Quote:
Originally Posted by philipswanson
I really don't know why you even need that center bearing with a straight rigid shaft like that.
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Philip.....It's strictly physics! There are a couple of helicopter guys on the forum here that will tell you the same thing when it comes to the drive line for helicopter tail rotors. The earlier driveshafts on these Fords(without the
bearing) were actually built-up utilizing a long piece of tubing of a rather substantial diameter, not un-like the basic idea behind current-day
drive shafts. When you rotate a piece of tubing at the speeds that driveshafts normally turn, the very physical make-up of tubing resists any kind of bowing or "whipping" in the center of the span. On the other hand, Henry decided that it would be cool (probably 'cuz they're easier to manufacture) to start making the driveshafts out of one solid piece of machined steel
shaft material. As long as those
drive shafts are (like the one in your '40), they can tend to whip in the middle at higher speeds if not supported in that
bearing. Clear as mud, right? DD