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In Reply to: Yes - Probably more than you want to know. posted by FWK-Z3 on June 18, 2000 at 21:46:20:
:the right halfshaft is usually much longer htan the left halfshaft. The first problem arises as, itf these were manufactured from iddentical materials, the longer right shaft would have a much greater torqe angle then the left for the application of an equal amout of torque. Step on the gas, and the car would veer immediately to the left then straighten. This is a fairly easy fix - change the Torque moment of the shafts to be equal. On VW products using trnasverse engines, the right halfshaft is usually a much larger diameter than the left and is hollow.
I could buy this analysis of the problem, and VW's fix of it, only under one condition, and that's if there's no differential or the differential is locked. With a properly-operating differential however, the torques in the left and right halfshafts are by definition equal. Stated another way, the output shaft at the differential on the "long" side, will twist farther forward to take up the torsional compliance of the longer shaft. However the torque applied will be the same (regardless of relative angular displacement of the two differential outputs (otherwise we wouldn't have a differential)) at the input to each halfshaft, and, by definition, at the output of the halfshafts to the wheels. Ergo, no torque steer! Unless we're compensating for severely unideal components at the differential, I just can't see the value in VW's fix. Morever, reading a bit into the way you implied that this is found in VWs only, is it possible that no other manufacturer believes that dissimilar halfshafts are necessary?
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