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Thread: SWB axles from Tuthill Porsche - GOOD NEWS!

  1. #1

    SWB axles from Tuthill Porsche - GOOD NEWS!

    Starting a new thread on SWB Axles so the information doesn't get buried in the other thread about replacement axles currently available in the US. https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...ighlight=axles

    Level set - SWB axles have been NLA for quite some time. Replacement solutions and strategies aren't great. Many have resorted to piecing parts together to get a solution and some have gone as far as having custom axles made from race shops.

    With that...I contacted Richard Tuthill in the UK and asked what they were using for the 2.0 SWB race cars they build and support for the Peter Auto series. Corresponded back and forth with Ms. Charlie Broughton who was very helpful and knowledgeable. Charlie told me that years ago they worked with GKN to have an exactly dimensioned, race-quality axle made for their SWB race cars. Their Peter Auto 2.0 race cars have been very competitive, driven hard, and she states the axles have been great with no failures or poor performance, etc. They order them in batches and usually have a set or two on the shelf. I asked about the spring washer and it ISN'T used in their application, but Charlie said it was designed that way and again...lots of experience on track and no issues.

    I'm in the process of converting my Nadella axles to GKN/Lobro CV style and after the back and forth decided to order a set from Tuthill Porsche in the UK based on Charlie's recommendations and information.

    Final cost including shipping was $1018.00 to my door. I think that's about on par with (or cheaper than) the solutions currently being offered or custom built here in the US. I don't know if there will be custom's fees that come up later.

    Received the axles in less than a week. They look great! They do have an inner boot style mount so not an exact visual match for the original SWB axles. I will not be able to mount them for another month or so as I'm separated from my car while I'm in the south hiding from the winter :-) ... but after all of the discussion and back and forth I expect no issues. They came with 12 bolts but no moon shaped spacers or schnoor washers. Heavily greased (messy in the box) but I cleaned them up and removed some grease from the end to inspect the circlip area and take a photo or two.

    Thought I'd share. I'll update after the install unless someone else orders and beats me to it.

    If you're interested I'd contact Charlie at: charlie@tuthillporsche.com

    Best,

    Jim
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  2. #2
    Good to always have options. Thanks for taking the plunge.
    Early S Registry member #90
    R Gruppe member #138
    Fort Worth Tx.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
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    1
    Hello- was this per axle? I received a quote from them that is almost double the cost you mentioned. Thanks!

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by gus91326 View Post
    Hello- was this per axle? I received a quote from them that is almost double the cost you mentioned. Thanks!
    That was the total price for two to my door...

  5. #5
    So finally got back to my garage and mounted the axles using the factory intermediate flange that allows continued use of the LSD specific Nadella output flange from the transmission. Bolted up without any difficulty and all seems well when driving the car (with both LOBRO axles installed).

    Really seem like high quality parts as compared with the other axle options currently available (IMO). I'm switching things out to support some upcoming track time with the car and didn't want to worry about the Nadellas catastrophically failing. The great news is the factory parts allow me to swap the Nadellas back in easily if I need to get back to the factory correct spec. These factory flanges were built specifically to convert a 901 LSD trans to a LOBRO CV setup and seem to be little known in the community. I'll detail more about them in another post.
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  6. #6
    Those flange adapters appear to compress the length of the axle. I had a similar set up on a race car and had several cv failures. As the axle compresses the cv balls ride at the end of the races where there is less "meat". And lowering the car exacerbates the problem. I might suggest getting the correct flanges to accommodate your new axles Lobro axles with the 904 LSD. The addition of high performance grease ($!) will also help protect your investment.
    Last edited by sanders; 05-27-2021 at 07:25 AM.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by sanders View Post
    Those flange adapters appear to compress the length of the axle. I had a similar set up on a race car and had several cv failures. As the axle compresses the cv balls ride at the end of the races where there is less "meat". And lowering the car exacerbates the problem. I might suggest getting the correct flanges to accommodate your new axles Lobro axles with the 904 LSD. The addition of high performance grease ($!) will also help protect your investment.
    Not what it appears. The Nadella output flange protrudes from the transmission about 7/8" is my guess. The regular CV/Lobro output flange protrudes about 1 7/8" from the transmission (rough estimates) BUT...the Nadella / Intermediate Flange combo ends up protruding about 1 7/8". It appears that the Nadella/Intermediate flange combo was designed to provide the same pick up point as the CV/Lobro flange. So...The axle doesn't know the difference. It bolts up to the intermediate flange in the same exact position as it would if it was the one piece CV/Lobro output flange.

    The axles I'm using are new editions from GKN commissioned by Tuthill for the 2.0 series racing in Europe. Tuthill told me they were designed to match the stock axle measurements but they use a modern CV and boot glued to the inner part of the boot flange instead of the boot being clamped over the top of the flange. So the boot visuals on these axles will not correspond to the visuals of factory axles...

    Final note...there are NO "correct flanges" to accommodate new Lobro Axles for the 901 with ZF LSD. The factory solution is the intermediate flange and it is a factory part. I believe there was a super rare one piece female output flange for 69 transmissions that were running a ZF LSD but that flange is designed to work with the 108mm CVs of 69+ and won't work with the 94mm CVs of the SWB cars.
    Last edited by jimhuiz; 05-27-2021 at 11:51 AM.

  8. #8
    I stand corrected. I did see where Gripper Differentials in the UK makes 904 LSD/Lobro flanges.
    Last edited by sanders; 05-27-2021 at 12:53 PM.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by sanders View Post
    I stand corrected. I did see where Gripper Differentials in the UK makes 904 LSD/Lobro flanges.
    Yep I bought those as well but decided against them due to wanting a factory solution.

    I think their Gripper 904 LSD Lobro flange is engineered to work with their Gripper 904 style differential...I know it's supposed to also work with the factory ZF 904 LSD but I'm not sure how well it would work. I tried fitting their flange over a factory differential piece and it was tight...real tight. One of the reasons I didn't install.

  10. #10
    They don’t get much rarer than the pair of oem flanges I found for a 904 diff in my 69 with large diameter cv’s. Thank you Tom Conway. I found a pair of Ginther type axles for my swb to replace Nadellas. I did install VW beetle halfshafts into an swb 911 with no problems, CVS were sourced from a California off-road racing supplier at a most attractive price which is all I could afford decades ago. The urethane boots I used were just garbage.
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    Last edited by 66S; 02-04-2024 at 05:53 AM.

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