Beefing up a useless transaxle?

Has anybody here ever tried welding braces into and between the fins on a transaxle yet? I know they're Aluminum, and I know I'd have to use TIG, but has anybody ever tried it yet?

Unless it went the long way I dont think it would help.

You could make a steel skid plate that bolts up to the mounting bolts on the trans so it doubles to help prevent flexing. That would be neat. Or even a skeleton like structure made of steel rods.

Reinforcing the case would help a bit but most of the time you can prevent breakage by running a straight axle.

Still can break a case on a straight axle, the bull gear rides on the case and jam get jammed up and crack the case, case is pretty brittle. I'd say trussing the case with a spool gun or tig would help a lot. A skeleton is ok but the case can still flex in the middle. Some gussets on the input shaft too would be cool.

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

A skeleton is ok but the case can still flex in the middle.

My skeletons are flex free thank you very much...

But I still think that the easiest thing to do would be to use an external axle mounted on pillow block bearings. Chain drive from each axle on the trans to the wheel axle. Then you don't have to split the case and lock the rear. Also none of the stress of the machine is on the transmission at all. Although you'd have to lift it probably at least a few inches if you ran your new axle under the trans. Maybe cut the axles on the trans short so they clear the wheels. Just long enough to put the gears on.