Somebeach (Forum Supporter)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) Reader
7/11/20 9:38 a.m.

I am trying to go from a Colorado AR5 trans to the stock driveshaft in my 190E. 
 


 

that is what the back of my current "old" trans looks like. 
 

the Colorado is a slip yoke I think. 
 

Is there an adapter or should I try to find room for a whole new driveshaft? 

dean1484
dean1484 MegaDork
7/11/20 9:59 a.m.

I think you will either have yours modified or a new one made up. 
 

Have you looked at the length?  

Somebeach (Forum Supporter)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) Reader
7/11/20 10:24 a.m.

In reply to dean1484 :

I haven't measured yet as I don't know for sure where the engine will be. I thought that if I could get an adaptor on the cheaper side, that might dictate where the engine sat. 

Trent (Generally supportive dude)
Trent (Generally supportive dude) PowerDork
7/11/20 11:52 a.m.

Euro style guibo/giubo/flex joint style driveshaft parts are super difficult to find. I'm gonna say your best bet is to convert to a u-joint style driveshaft 

 

Somebeach (Forum Supporter)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) Reader
7/11/20 8:40 p.m.

In reply to Trent (Generally supportive dude) :

Thanks. That makes sense why I couldn't find much on it. 

Rocambolesque
Rocambolesque Reader
7/11/20 10:51 p.m.

A few months ago I found a site where a guy modified his Mercedes trans and differential to convert to a single piece driveshaft with u-joints. Apparently he found off the shelf Spicer parts that were somewhat bolt in.

Thought I lost the page but here it is:

http://www.superturbodiesel.com/std/showthread.php?tid=783

 

ccrelan (Forum Supporter)
ccrelan (Forum Supporter) Reader
7/12/20 9:55 a.m.
Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) MegaDork
7/12/20 10:07 a.m.
ccrelan (Forum Supporter) said:

https://jagsthatrun.com/products/driveshaft-adaptor-flange

 

What about if you want to use the Guibos instead of U-joints?

 

Fighting drivetrain harmonics has given me a pathological hatred of U-joints.

TheRyGuy
TheRyGuy New Reader
7/12/20 2:29 p.m.
ccrelan (Forum Supporter) said:

https://jagsthatrun.com/products/driveshaft-adaptor-flange

 

This is what I used between the T5 and stock Mercedes diff in my W123. I then went and had a custom driveshaft made; cost me about $250 for the 'shaft and was way easier to get the driveline angles right than trying to preserve the Mercedes driveshaft with the intermediate bearing and all that. I've not noticed any weird harmonics/vibrations up to 110 mph so far.

My only complaint about the JTR adapter is that the center hole was "just" a hair too small to fit. A (careful!) minute with a flap disc took care of that.

Somebeach (Forum Supporter)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) Reader
7/12/20 3:14 p.m.

In reply to TheRyGuy :

Thanks. That is what I had in mind. Your advice is really helpful. For not much more a custom driveshaft seems better. 

Somebeach (Forum Supporter)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) Reader
7/12/20 3:15 p.m.

In reply to TheRyGuy :

where did you get your driveshaft made? Looks like you are in Ohio as well. 

 

TheRyGuy
TheRyGuy New Reader
7/15/20 6:58 p.m.

In reply to Somebeach (Forum Supporter) :

I had my driveshaft made at a place called Super Duty Truck Parts in Newark, Ohio. I took measurements per their directions, dropped of my yoke and flange. 4 hours later, I picked up my shaft and was on my way.

Or you could be adventurous and try this setup... 

(Hopefully those pictures uploaded correctly)

So cut the yoke off the splines and fit a piece of thin sheet metal between the two to center them up. I didn't go with this because I couldn't get the angle correct with respect to the oilpan to front crossmember clearance, and the puny, unserviceable u-joint in the Mercedes driveshaft didn't look up to a clutch dump or two.

I was going to tack it in place, straighten, tack, straighten, rinse repeat until the weld was complete. Your results may vary!

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