joint and axle musings

[OREO447766@aol.com]

    With all the discussion on CV joints and my own pending suspension
project, I opened the trusty Bentley and dug out some specs. My interest in
these specs is partially because I've got two spare axles for a 4000q, I'm
debating whether to rebuild my spares or the ones already in the car(100k, no
problems). The numbers I found provoked some though, so I'll post 'em.....

Front Shaft Length(4000q)
Right side    496.0mm
left side        541.6mm

Rear Shaft Length(4000q)
Right side     543.3mm
Left side        498.7mm

This manual specifically states that driveshafts for a TQC are interchangable
diagonally. Can I presume this to be true for my 4000q, is the difference of
under 1 inch on the diagonally opposed axles irrelevant? 

On the subj of joints themselves, the Bentley also seems to say that any 5cyl
4000 series has an outer CV joint diameter of 90mm and an inner joint
diameter of 100mm. Now we know the shafts themselves are a different length,
but could it be that the joints are transplantable onto a quattro shaft?
Perhaps not, the spec for quattro outer joint diameter listed is 98mm OR
90mm. The inner diameter is 108mm, so obviously no luck there....

So I guess in conclusion one could say that IF you have 90mm outer diameter
CV joints on your 4000q, then you could scavenge any outer joint from a 4000
series. This info applies to 4000q only. I didn't have access to the
measurements for the TQC.

One the subj of interchangeability, can anyone tell me what control arm I can
use in place of the right front one on my TQC, which I think I've bent. Can I
use one off a 4000q, front or rear?

Any thoughts?

-Chris Semple