center drive , shaft size

[actcrazy]

what is a good diameter for the center shaft for a 600# buggy powered by a honda v30 1" 1 1/4"????

[rowycoracing]

What material are you using? *Are you thinking mild steel?

[actcrazy]

mild steel would be probable, I can get stainless but would prefer not to because of cost

[tenaja]

My ZZR1100 has very slightly twisted my 1-3/8 x 6 spline shaft. I'd say, based on that, that 1-1/4" solid shaft is marginal.

[Bugpac]

tenaja, wasnt your shaft 1 1/8? i thought thats what you said before, as you were considering what i was using at 1 3/8, maybe i am wrong, cant remember....

[minibajaman]

Stainless is usually not stronger than mild steel, cromoly is your best bet. *I wouldn't go less than 1.25", and heat treating will increase its strength as well. *What are you using to transmit power, splines?

[rowycoracing]

Assuming about a 4:1 or 5:1 reduction ratio from the engine to the center shaft either 1 1/4" mild steel or 1" stressproof would be plenty strong. *The stressproof will cost about 10% more is all and has about twice the tensile *and yield strength that the mild steel does. *Some specs from the LaSalle steel site are attached. *You can get the mild steel at many places and you can order the stressproof through onlinemetals.com. *Tim

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Specifications
Stressproof® is made by a patented process which consists of drawing the bar through a special die under heavy draft, then stress relieveing it in a precisely controlled
furnace. Stressproof® offers wearability without case hardening, strength without heat treating, plus excellent machinability and tool life. Other benefits include
resistance to fatigue and stress, balanced working, and minimum warpage and distortion. Stressproof® can also be induction hardened but should be watched for
quench cracks, and, being a resulfurized steel, a magnetic particle inspection operation should be performed after heat treating.

Mechanical Properties
Tensile Strength 115,000 psi (Min)
Yield Strength 100,000 psi (Min)
Machining Characteristics 83% of 1212

[tenaja]

Originally Posted by bugpac\";p=\&quot

tenaja, wasnt your shaft 1 1/8? i thought thats what you said before, as you were considering what i was using at 1 3/8, maybe i am wrong, cant remember....

My jackshaft is 1-1/8" 6-spline, and it didn't twist...it didn't have gear reduction on it.
My center shaft and outer shafts are 1-3/8 6-spline, and with the 16-50 gear reduction, they twisted very slightly. So slightley that you don't quite see it at first.

The material, by the way, is 1045.

[ultraman]

Mine is 1" keyed 1215. So far no problems, but im sure a cvt reduces shock on the driveline

[Rorty]

That Stressproof stuff sounds good, but may fall into the "exotic" category - I don't know, I've never heard of it down here. If you can't find it locally, or have some delivered, I would aim for 1.25" 4340 with heat treatment. It's possibly overkill, but the weight isn't going to make or break your buggy.