Bacon

Ive seen the Revshift replacement coupler, but I don't know that I've ever seen an OE style rubber flex disc coupler replacement. Came across this on RockAuto while looking for some other stuff. Looks to be a direct replacement for the stock unit and is mere $48.

Hope someone finds this useful!

Rock Auto Link

Dorman Link

Revshift

Dorman is listing the same part number for the CTS and the CTS-V. This is wrong. There are 4 different flex disc sizes that cover the 2003-2007 CTS/CTS-V. The CTS-V uses a size that does not fit any CTS. Also, some cars have a front and rear disc which may be the same or different. It is surprisingly complicated.

This Dorman part might be one of the 4 flex discs. So, we just ordered one to find out. We will report back with what we find. I have a feeling it is a generic size, made in china knockoff. The authentic OEM flex discs are made in Germany. There is an issue with the BMW guys buying them on ebay for cheap only to find out that they were made in china and they fall apart very quickly.

barrok69

From a few other threads I've read on the subject the part from a 5th gen Camaro should work on our 1st gen CTS-V's. Nothing beats a newer OEM quality part.

01_SuperSlow

iTrader: (7)

I wasn't looking for one, but thank you Revshift for chiming in

Revshift

We received the Dorman flex disc. We ordered the flex disc for a CTS-V, the one that was sent to us is too small. I was correct when I said this is probably a generic size, made in china part. It is the same thing that the BMW guys are buying off ebay and immediately destroying. Here are some comparison pictures of the Dorman "CTS-V" flex disc next to an OEM CTS-V flex disc:







The red arrows are pointing to guaranteed points of failure. The internal nylon cord is exposed and will cause a failure.




What happens when you install a cheap china flex disc? This:


The OEM flex discs are made in Germany. The rubber flex discs are not good because they wear out, dry rot, and fail. With that said, the best rubber flex discs come from Germany. If they are not from Germany they will fail in no time at all.

All rubber parts are wear items and will need to be replaced at some point. This is just the nature of rubber. Polyurethane, on the other hand, lasts much longer, is much stronger, does not dry rot, and its characteristics can be finely tuned for a specific application.

I hope this saves you guys some grief.

FuzzyLog1c

iTrader: (4)

Question: if you (Revshift) revised your coupler using 80A poly instead of 95A, would that ease the installation tolerances at all?

rjoffe

Quality service from a Vendor.

Thanks Revshift !

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Bumping this one back up...

I'm going to be installing a voodoochikin improved driveshaft in the near future, so I was looking around online to see about replacing the flex disk while I've got things apart. Rockauto.com still lists the Dorman part number that originated this thread. Although Revshift's pics from a couple years back no longer work, it's safe to say they compared the flex disks directly and the Dorman part isn't correct for the V1.

In searching around I stumbled across this ad on Ebay for an SGF (German company) flex disk for $95. The listing shows they've sold some, but I don't believe I've seen anyone post about these here or on cf.com. I looked at their website (which is towards the bottom of the Ebay listing) and they list the flex disk separately there for ~$20 more than the Ebay listing. Of note, their web site shows 3 CTS driveshaft options (looking at a 2005 CTS) - V6 manual, V6 automatic, and CTS-V manual - as they should. Unlike the Dorman part that originated this thread, these guys show a different flex disk part number for the CTS-V, which strikes me as a good sign.

I took the part number from their ad and went looking for that elsewhere online. WIPGAP01-003 doesn't come up with anything, but GAP01-003 does - www.powertrainindustries.com shows that as the flex disk that comes with their 3694-221 driveshaft assembly for our cars. OK, good, now I have 2 separate sites listing that as the correct flex disk. Interestingly enough, that part number also comes up as the flex disk for the '03-10 Porsche Cayenne / VW Touaeoeueareg ; Rockauto.com shows Dorman 935-107 for that application for ~$95.

Even better, if I search for SGF GAP01-003 on Amazon, I find it for only $79. That's $15-20 cheaper than the OEM Camaro part (that some folks have used, but isn't quite a direct fit), which seems like a pretty good deal to me.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Noice. I wonder if it would be worth starting a sticky thread with hard to find OEM replacement parts.

Choppy_Idle

Please give that coupler a try, my prop shaft was on balancing machine mounted on a Touareg coupler and it matches there in every measure!

Best regards,
Ronald

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

While I didn't measure the touareg shaft we serviced recently... It did appear to be identical to the V shaft in construction and the 3 finger transmission flange looked the same... The touareg shaft is much shorter overall than the V though. For whatever that info is worth lol. You should definitely check out the amazon part.

ls1247

iTrader: (2)

That disc looks right where the Camaro disc really wasn't even though the camaro disc is working fine. I'd give that a shot!

Nice find!!

Choppy_Idle

More infos about sgf and their couplers:

SGF Overview Couplers

Send mail to them about specs for our guibo and comparsion to other guibo like the Touareg ones which have probably the same dimensions!

Give feedback asap!

Best regards,
Ronald

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

I sent a question to the Ebay vendor about whether SGF was the original manufacturer. They responded, "We are a direct SGF (the original make) Supplier. Can't get any better then the Original."

I went ahead and bought it off Amazon, but I won't get around to installing it (along with the "new" driveshaft) until mid-October.

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

I believe we still have an OEM disc laying around. I'll see about getting all the numbers off of it this weekend. Stay tuned.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

I received the SGF GAP01-003 flex disk from Amazon today, but won't be installing it until the 2nd weekend in October. [Ordered Friday, 9/25. Estimated delivery 10/1-10/6. Actual delivery Monday, 9/28, with free shipping - gotta love it.] I popped the package open to take a look at it. Looks like a flex disk!

My understanding is that on the OEM CTS-V part the sleeves that protrude from either side are different diameters, but on this part they're all the same - 18mm. Matt (voodoochickin), did you find that old OEM part you thought you might have hanging around, and if so, can you measure the sleeve diameters?

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

Looking at an OEM flex disc from a V1..

One side it reads: SGF Germany GAP01-003 >NR<

Other side: has a gkn looking logo, 7 L0 521 403. 2 153 13 18 00.

Tube length= 38.62 mm +/- 1mm..
Tube I.D.= 12.00mm
Tube O.D.= 18.00mm one side.
Tube O.D.= 18.00mm other side.
Rubber thickness= 33.80mm but it varies all around it.

ls1247

iTrader: (2)

You got it backwards, the camaro disc has 2 different size collars and the V1 disc has collars that are the same size on both sides.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...camaro-part.html

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Yeah, when I saw voodoo's reply I figured I was remembering things backwards. Shoulda gone and read your posts before I posted.

Mine doesn't have the logo and numbers on the other side, but other than that they match up just right. Cool! (Perhaps the ones that were actually supplied to GM carry those extra numbers?)

ls1247

iTrader: (2)

Nice find! Good luck with the install!

I had good luck with the alignment technique listed on the Revshift website and on both my V1's, I had to elongate the holes on the carrier bearing mount at least 1/4" and use 4 or 5 washers under the carrier mount to get it to line up properly. (stock window welded trans mount, CS motor mounts)

http://www.revshift.com/Articles.asp?ID=253

I didn't use calipers and attempt to measure all this. Just leave the driveshaft loose which will leave a gap between the disc and the transmission. If the driveshaft isn't straight the gap will be wider on one side than it is on the other but you'll have to rotate the shaft to see it because there's only 3 fingers on the transmission. If there were 4 fingers, you could get the fingers lined up at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock and get a good look at it, but you can't do that with 3 so you have to keep turning it. Do the same at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock to get the height right. Took 10 minutes if you have something to elongate the mount holes with.