openinverter forum

Had the intention of enjoying the weekend long driving event but the drivetrain says no. Can't say that I heard a snap or a bang when the rear axle broke, so this became evident only after a spectator brought it to my attention that the passenger side rear is not spinning...

Oh well...
This was my first axle shaft breaking, so I know I was on overtime with not breaking one earlier
Also in the same spot the motor side driveshaft adapter shook off one of the bearing retainer plate bolts and now it makes contact with the park pawl wheel on the shaft.
Instead of spending any more time with this iteration, I'll start working on the next version of the motor side adapter. I'd like to have the park lock mechanism working, so a bit of cutting and welding ahead.

Some things that have happened in the meantime:

I was going to replace the broken axle shaft with an original spare, but something happened and I ended up with Longfield axle shafts. Now the fusible driveline part shall be something else than the axle shafts My 1.0 version of the motor adapter was shitty, no question about it
As it self disassembled in the same session as the axleshaft broke, I figured the rime was ripe for a proper redo.
One of the bolts holding the bearing retainer plate came loose and the whole assebly moved outward just enough that the retainer plate made contact with the park gear and well that made a fun sound

A Suzuki differential pinion as material for this attempt Pinion flange out on the second half of the Leaf case Had to make a sleeve to match Leaf bearing size This one has a lesser case of the weeble wobble. Dial indicator zeroed to minimum and here the max There even should be room for a longitudinal support beam to reduce the back and forth movement of the Leaf stack Test fit to see whether the case was chopped from the right place and that there is clearance Then recently on the table, it has been welding Welding And welding This should keep the oil in, so I can have the Leaf mechanikal park lock mechanism and the bearings in a proper oil bath.

The Leaf park actuator controller my father has been working on is also bench tested and ready for real world testing, so more on that once I have this back on wheels.

J0hannes wrote: ↑Sun Oct 19, 2025 6:15 pm
My 1.0 version of the motor adapter was shitty, no question about it
As it self disassembled in the same session as the axleshaft broke, I figured the rime was ripe for a proper redo.
One of the bolts holding the bearing retainer plate came loose and the whole assebly moved outward just enough that the retainer plate made contact with the park gear and well that made a fun sound

A Suzuki differential pinion as material for this attempt
Motor_shaft_V2(1).jpg

Pinion flange out on the second half of the Leaf case
Motor_shaft_V2(2).jpg

Had to make a sleeve to match Leaf bearing size
Motor_shaft_V2(3).jpg

nice work. looks like you still have provisions to interface to the intermediate gear if you wanted to.

i have a case cut roughly the same, but planning on welding a splined shaft of the intermediate shaft to direct drive the rear diff in a truck. when welding up the case, did you assemble the 2 halves, with the added material to get the matting faces to fit properly, then weld or did you post machine them?

Bratitude wrote: ↑Sun Oct 19, 2025 7:08 pm nice work. looks like you still have provisions to interface to the intermediate gear if you wanted to.

i have a case cut roughly the same, but planning on welding a splined shaft of the intermediate shaft to direct drive the rear diff in a truck. when welding up the case, did you assemble the 2 halves, with the added material to get the matting faces to fit properly, then weld or did you post machine them?

Thanks!

I left material on the halves and still need to machine the surfaces to make it fit.
I figured that if I would have attempted to weld it assembled, I probably would have ended up needing to machine these somewhere anyways.
Yeah, actually thought about it that way, if it would still feel like I need more gearing, I could also use the intermediate shaft as output

Case business coming to an end second time around...

Added a connector for breather line Eventually figured out that the bearing size matches Suzuki differential pinion seal OD on the other end of the motor intput shaft, so ended up boring out the whole end Plugged the intermediate shaft hole for the carbon contact Now the circlip stopping the bearing has double duty as the seal rests against it fron the outside. Noticed that not all year models have this circlip, but the machined groove for it seems to be there Measured the oil needed to fill case to about the bottom level of the input shaft bearings and put the numbers somewhere I can find them when needed This was a really thick seal, so thick that it actually rests against the shim plate I added for the longitudinal support mounts Machined a pocket to an otherwise unmodified pinion flange, now the flange neck goes further down and meets the bearing inner race (and makes a proper contact on the seal) A mock up of the longitudinal support, to give an idea. Should mount up nicely to the transmission mount location Case closed On the list to finish up:

• the longitudinal support

• weld the new rear spring mounts

• put back together the rear axle

• The Leaf park actuator controller needs an enclosure

• and a wiring job

The forementioned Leaf park actuator controller, waiting for action

Very nice project. I read through it and I really like the car choice and also the way the EV HW was integrated.
My favorite part is the motor hood made from a shovel

Any chance to see the schematics + sw of the Park actuator board?
I'm interesed in the Mosfets used to control the motor

Keep up the good work!