I
I have a 2019 Talon R. It's got just about 1,700 miles on it. I had noticed a vibration slowly getting worse for a while. It also started making a noise that sound like a chain slapping when it was lugging up a hill at higher speed. Checked out the drive shaft and sure enough I could see the play in the u-joints. So I pulled the driveshaft out.
The caps in both weld yokes were loose and spinning. The one had gotten loose enough that the snap ring was eating a groove into the ear.
The transmission slip yoke and the differential yoke were in good shape and the caps were in tight.
**quick story comparing razor driveshafts to the Talons**
So I luckily happen to run a driveline shop. We have been building driveshafts for the razors for quite some time now. They use the exact same series u-joint as the Talon, but use smaller tubing, and they have 2-piece driveshafts. I have never seen the caps spinning in the razor shafts. The main cause of their failure is the shaft being out of round straight from the factory. On the razors that get alot of abuse and the turbo models, the tube bends even farther out of round to the point it will start hitting the frame. Either way, the out of round shaft causes premature wear on the u-joints and carrier bearing. We put bigger tubing in those shafts, but still use the same size joint and use the stock carrier bearing. With the stronger tube and everything balanced and straight, all the vibration is gone and the shaft is actually reliable for a long time. We also make much stronger versions with as big as a joint that will possibly fit. Those are for the heavily abused machines.
Back to the Talon
Since the transmission and differential yoke are very special one of a kind yokes, there's no upgrading that unless a lot of machine work was done. I also couldn't find anywhere that I could buy just the yoke itself, only the complete driveshaft together. But since the caps were plenty tight in them, I just re-used those. The stock tube is just over 1.5" O.D. I used 1.750" X .095" tube. The U-Joints are a non-greaseable Neapco joint. There is also a greaseable version available, but I don't want to worry about greasing it. A good brand non-greasable joint will last just as long as a greaseable joint that is greased before each ride.
Since I used weld yokes that I know last a long time, I did not tac weld those. And since the caps still pressed tight into the transmission and differential yokes, I didn't tac weld those either.
So, I don't technically have a fix for the transmission and differential yokes, unless you wanted to spend alot of money on the labor of machining them to fit a bigger joint. Which I do not see necessary unless you are racing or abusing the machine. If my caps were spinning in the yokes, I was just going to tac the caps after putting new joints in it.
But since I have seen that a new oem shaft has the issues of the caps spinning in the weld yokes, that is something fixable without having to tac weld the caps on the weld yokes.
I've only got about 100 miles on mine since I re-did the shaft. All the vibration is gone and everything is still tight. I have great confidence in it lasting for much longer than the stock driveshaft. The only thing that can happen is the caps start to spin in the transmission and differential yokes. At that point I would just put new joints in it and tac weld the caps.
Price wise, this is just a bit more than a new oem shaft.
$300 if you sent us your driveshaft, we re-use the transmission and differential yokes off of it. We build a brand new balanced driveshaft with bigger tube, quality weld yokes, and your choice of greaseable or non-greaseable joints. That doesn't include shipping.
If the caps are spinning in your transmission or differential yokes, we can tac-weld them after the new joints are installed if requested.
Warranty wise (please take into consideration that we are smaller family ran business. Our main goal is quality service. We aren't pumping out hundreds of driveshafts a day like big company's. Our prices are going to be higher because we only use the best parts we can get. We don't want you to come back with a broken part, so we do our best to build it to not break. If you have an issue with whatever you get, whether it falls under the warranty or not, we want you to contact us. We will do whatever we can to make it right)
We will guarantee the tubing and welds. If you send us a picture of the tubing bent up or the welds have broke, we will send you a new driveshaft with joints. You would be responsible for putting the yokes on it unless you mailed us your old shaft which you would have to pay shipping for. The weld yokes and joints are covered under our discretion. We would need the shaft back to decide that. You would have to pay the shipping to get the shaft to us.
The caps in both weld yokes were loose and spinning. The one had gotten loose enough that the snap ring was eating a groove into the ear.
The transmission slip yoke and the differential yoke were in good shape and the caps were in tight.
**quick story comparing razor driveshafts to the Talons**
So I luckily happen to run a driveline shop. We have been building driveshafts for the razors for quite some time now. They use the exact same series u-joint as the Talon, but use smaller tubing, and they have 2-piece driveshafts. I have never seen the caps spinning in the razor shafts. The main cause of their failure is the shaft being out of round straight from the factory. On the razors that get alot of abuse and the turbo models, the tube bends even farther out of round to the point it will start hitting the frame. Either way, the out of round shaft causes premature wear on the u-joints and carrier bearing. We put bigger tubing in those shafts, but still use the same size joint and use the stock carrier bearing. With the stronger tube and everything balanced and straight, all the vibration is gone and the shaft is actually reliable for a long time. We also make much stronger versions with as big as a joint that will possibly fit. Those are for the heavily abused machines.
Back to the Talon
Since the transmission and differential yoke are very special one of a kind yokes, there's no upgrading that unless a lot of machine work was done. I also couldn't find anywhere that I could buy just the yoke itself, only the complete driveshaft together. But since the caps were plenty tight in them, I just re-used those. The stock tube is just over 1.5" O.D. I used 1.750" X .095" tube. The U-Joints are a non-greaseable Neapco joint. There is also a greaseable version available, but I don't want to worry about greasing it. A good brand non-greasable joint will last just as long as a greaseable joint that is greased before each ride.
Since I used weld yokes that I know last a long time, I did not tac weld those. And since the caps still pressed tight into the transmission and differential yokes, I didn't tac weld those either.
So, I don't technically have a fix for the transmission and differential yokes, unless you wanted to spend alot of money on the labor of machining them to fit a bigger joint. Which I do not see necessary unless you are racing or abusing the machine. If my caps were spinning in the yokes, I was just going to tac the caps after putting new joints in it.
But since I have seen that a new oem shaft has the issues of the caps spinning in the weld yokes, that is something fixable without having to tac weld the caps on the weld yokes.
I've only got about 100 miles on mine since I re-did the shaft. All the vibration is gone and everything is still tight. I have great confidence in it lasting for much longer than the stock driveshaft. The only thing that can happen is the caps start to spin in the transmission and differential yokes. At that point I would just put new joints in it and tac weld the caps.
Price wise, this is just a bit more than a new oem shaft.
$300 if you sent us your driveshaft, we re-use the transmission and differential yokes off of it. We build a brand new balanced driveshaft with bigger tube, quality weld yokes, and your choice of greaseable or non-greaseable joints. That doesn't include shipping.
If the caps are spinning in your transmission or differential yokes, we can tac-weld them after the new joints are installed if requested.
Warranty wise (please take into consideration that we are smaller family ran business. Our main goal is quality service. We aren't pumping out hundreds of driveshafts a day like big company's. Our prices are going to be higher because we only use the best parts we can get. We don't want you to come back with a broken part, so we do our best to build it to not break. If you have an issue with whatever you get, whether it falls under the warranty or not, we want you to contact us. We will do whatever we can to make it right)
We will guarantee the tubing and welds. If you send us a picture of the tubing bent up or the welds have broke, we will send you a new driveshaft with joints. You would be responsible for putting the yokes on it unless you mailed us your old shaft which you would have to pay shipping for. The weld yokes and joints are covered under our discretion. We would need the shaft back to decide that. You would have to pay the shipping to get the shaft to us.
