DSM drivetrain failures?

[Raven18940]

I'm just sort of wondering to myself how often DSMs blow drivetrain parts? Aside from clutches, which we all know AWD cars eat for breakfast, do they break often? Things like blown differentials, striped gears, etc.

[turbo4g63]

I'm just sort of wondering to myself how often DSMs blow drivetrain parts? Aside from clutches, which we all know AWD cars eat for breakfast, do they break often? Things like blown differentials, striped gears, etc.

for daily driven cars....i havent heard too much about them blowing drivetrain components. of course if people beat the piss out of them they will break. but for daily driver cars they aren't any worse than any other car. the rears arent too bad the large majority of them have a 3 bolt rear, but most people that put a lot of power down tend to swap them out for the much stronger 4 bolt

a good person to answer this would be spendone....he knows his dsm's

[assault187]

You start to break stuff when you upgrade the clutch to somthin nasty and beat on it....Like i did. ACT 6 puck clutch, I ran through 1st, dropped to second and BANG...tranny exploded! They ARE pretty strong and reliable though.

[redline]

Edit: thought it said Valvetrain

[06evors]

As long as you don't drive like a D-bag and think that launching an AWD car consist of revving and dumping clutch you'll be just fine.

[TrboChicsRock]

In my 95 I went to a track day and made about 20-25 passes in one single day running mid 11 to low 12 second passes. My tranny is built excpet I have stock 3rd and 4th gears, stock axles, transfer case and rear.

[screamingdsm]

I never really broke any drive train parts. I broke a front u-joint and input shaft yoke, because the pep boys u joint failed. Trans have problems when the clutch or something else that has to do with the clutch disengagement is not right

[180sxDrifter]

my front u-joint came aprt after 1 week of owning mine. Drivveshaft fell down as I was leaving neshaminy mall

[Sberk06]

a good person to answer this would be spendone....he knows his dsm's

im almost certain he will respond within a few hours. where are ya matt? lol

[screamingdsm]

Really it comes down to launching the car. Most guys running high hp 5 speeds are running twin disk clutchs...there expensive, but drivetrain failures are less likely. Twin disk like heat... you can preload the drivetrain using the e brake and slipping the clutch so instead of shocking the drivetrain you have it ready for battle

[SpendOne]

im almost certain he will respond within a few hours. where are ya matt? lol

Ha....I only know from experience. MY stock trans and t-case has gotten my old manual car to 11.6 cutting 1.5x sixty foot consistantly. The 3 bolt rear on the other hand broke as soon as I got traction running 12.0's. I upgraded the rear and went to drag radials, the first pass was a 11.7 with that alone. With the 3 bolt I was making enough power to spin the tires all the way to the beginning of third gear on the track. These drivetrains take a beating and hold up pretty well considering the milage thats on them. It all comes down to maintance and driving like a normal person.

[Raven18940]

Thanks a lot guys, I'm looking at maybe swapping a DSM drivetrain into my SAAB. First I gotta take measurements and see if it'll even fit, and I have no idea what I'm gonna do with the rear suspension. I'll probably just get a DSM as a toy and see what I can do with it.

[eviltalon]

if your not doing heavy modding the only advice i have would be to keep an eye on the transfer case. Some are defective and leak.

[SuperHatch]

The whole drivetrain stock is very rhobust, especially for anything under the 400whp mark. 60 footing the car hard will most likely lead to axle failure (outer joint).

This also depends if you are talking 1G or 2G DSM. The early 1G cars with the 3-bolt rears like to kill rear axles. Upgrading to the stronger 4-bolt rear is a must when you start making real power. The 2G's on the other hand have very strong axles, but with enough torque on the launch they'll tear the rear cover right off the diff.

The transmissions themselves are very strong, especially the '90 trannys. (I think 91 as well). From 92 on Mitsu narrowed the 3-4 gears to allow for a larger syncro. The result was smoother shifting but also a weaker gear. 3rd and 4th can simply shear the teeth off of the gears if you're making >500wtq and floor it. The upgrade is either an Evo III 3-4 gearset or a '90 3-4 gearset.

The center diff is a pretty tough nut to crack. Even though they do fail, it is rarely because of the gears themselves being weak. The bearings that the spider gears ride on can seize causing excessive heat in the diff. That leads to catostrophic failure. If you've heard of a torrington bearing upgrade for the center diff, that is the remedy. There is also a 4-spider upgrade available from the stock 2-spider setup that doubles the gear contact area. This is to increase the torque capacity for drag radials or slicks on the launch.

The transfer cases are very strong, but there was a recall on them some years ago. The interesting thing is that it's not really the transfer cases that were recalled, it is the front yolk on the driveshaft. The way it was designed would result in a fluid leak from the output shaft of the TC resulting in fluid loss and the TC seizing. This would most commonly occur on the highway and would lock all 4 tires resulting in a total loss of control of the vehicle. Hence the recall. The front yolk of the driveshaft would be replaced to remedy the leak, but if the TC had been damaged be fluid loss, it would be replaced under the recall as well.

There's lots more info to know as well, but if you have specific questions, it would make it much easier to answer.

[Raven18940]

The whole drivetrain stock is very rhobust, especially for anything under the 400whp mark. 60 footing the car hard will most likely lead to axle failure (outer joint).

This also depends if you are talking 1G or 2G DSM. The early 1G cars with the 3-bolt rears like to kill rear axles. Upgrading to the stronger 4-bolt rear is a must when you start making real power. The 2G's on the other hand have very strong axles, but with enough torque on the launch they'll tear the rear cover right off the diff.

The transmissions themselves are very strong, especially the '90 trannys. (I think 91 as well). From 92 on Mitsu narrowed the 3-4 gears to allow for a larger syncro. The result was smoother shifting but also a weaker gear. 3rd and 4th can simply shear the teeth off of the gears if you're making >500wtq and floor it. The upgrade is either an Evo III 3-4 gearset or a '90 3-4 gearset.

The center diff is a pretty tough nut to crack. Even though they do fail, it is rarely because of the gears themselves being weak. The bearings that the spider gears ride on can seize causing excessive heat in the diff. That leads to catostrophic failure. If you've heard of a torrington bearing upgrade for the center diff, that is the remedy. There is also a 4-spider upgrade available from the stock 2-spider setup that doubles the gear contact area. This is to increase the torque capacity for drag radials or slicks on the launch.

The transfer cases are very strong, but there was a recall on them some years ago. The interesting thing is that it's not really the transfer cases that were recalled, it is the front yolk on the driveshaft. The way it was designed would result in a fluid leak from the output shaft of the TC resulting in fluid loss and the TC seizing. This would most commonly occur on the highway and would lock all 4 tires resulting in a total loss of control of the vehicle. Hence the recall. The front yolk of the driveshaft would be replaced to remedy the leak, but if the TC had been damaged be fluid loss, it would be replaced under the recall as well.

There's lots more info to know as well, but if you have specific questions, it would make it much easier to answer.
Sorry, nothing specific just trying to get a general idea of things in the DSM camp. Thanks a lot for all the great info. :)