Mike's Gripes

Welcome : Guest

HOME | CONTINGENCY | MEMBER LOGIN | POLICY | CART


	Probably Mike Mendeola's favorite part of the website, Mike's Gripes, showcases different subjects regarding transaxles. From false theories to your questions, Mike will set the record straight. Drop him an email with any questions or comments you have at mike@mendeolatransaxles.com.


	2007-11-06 14:50:44 Jumping from dune to dune without exploding your transaxle.
	Jumping from dune to dune can be the easiest thing you’ve ever done, or the most expensive! The secret to doing this correctly is all in the landing. You must do one of two things. Number 1: Just before landing you must match rear wheel speed with vehicle speed by throttle manipulation. This is a skill that must be learned. Number 2: Just before landing push in the clutch. By doing this you have completely disconnected the powertrain from the chassis. This will eliminate 99% of maincase and ring & pinion failures. By performing either one of these actions the dreaded “power-load reversal” can be eliminated. In mechanical jargon, a power load reversal is one in which ALL driving members become driven members, instantly! The pinion no longer drives the ring gear. The ring gear drives the pinion. Bang-catatrophic failure. It goes somethin’ like this: 1. You launch your new car from the first dune.YEEEE HAAAA!! 2. While in the air you lift off the throttle so the motor doesn’t wallow itself (this is what you’ve always been told to do, and its correct). 3. By lifting off the throttle the motor goes into immediate compression braking (slowing down). 4. The only resistance to vehicle motion while in the air, is the air! The buggy gains speed, albeit slowly. 5. Just before you land on the second dune you have a car doing 50 mph and rear wheels doing 10 mph (remember compression braking). 6. Now the landing. As soon as the rear wheels contact the ground the ring gear does everything it can to drive the coast side of the pinion. The rear wheels are directly connected to the ring gear. The clutch is still out and the transaxle is in gear. You’ve initiated a power load reversal. If the ring & pinion doesn’t explode immediately, it will. Remember, you’ve got the rest of the weekend. OR Push the clutch in! By performing this action it divorces the powertrain from the chassis. Let the suspension and brakes do their job. Let these components absorb the impact not the gearbox. Once you’ve gotten the car under control let the clutch out. If jumping from dune to dune is your thing go ahead theres nothing wrong with that. Just do it the proper way. You’ll spend a lot less money fixin things and have more fun dunning.

	2007-08-20 10:36:39 Whats a wheelstand?
	A great number of people, almost everybody that currently owns a sand buggy, really does not understand the basic mechanical function of the ever so popular 'wheel stand'. So here goes! In a nutshell, a wheel stand is the physical interaction of engine and gearbox multiplying torque through the centerline of the rear axles to the ring and pinion at mesh to ultimately lift the front of the car. That means 4 passangers and ice chest, plus fuel load. The final deliver point of this compounded torque is the ring and pinion. The pinion gear is lifting the car. The static load torque numbers get extremely high. Example: 450 Lbs Ft torque (modified LS6 crate motor) x 2.08 ratio (2nd gear) x 4.86 ratio (ring & pinion) Equals = 4,548.96 static force at inboard C.V.'s!!! The above number does not take into effect inertial loads (popping the clutch to get the front end up) which are always higher. Compound the fact that todays' wheel stands are 400 yards, NOT 50 feet. In a conventional rear engine sand car when initiating a wheel stand with an increasing angle of attack (nose rising) all lubricant flows towards the bell housing - INSTANTLY! In the same amount of time, 3rd, 4th, and 5th gears are now running dry. Try to stay out of those gears until the front end come 'back to earth'. Although spectacular, wheel stands take a severe mechanical toll on gearboxes, axles, clutches, C.V.'s, etc. The vehicle owner really needs to decide for himself the level of maintenance he or she is willing to deal with. If you drive it like a race car, expect to buy parts like you have a race car! There's nothing wrong with wheel stands, just understand the implications.

	2007-06-26 18:36:02 Whats the right oil for my transaxle?
	One of the most frequently asked questions on our tech line concerns lubricant selection. Fortunately within the last decade, synthetic formulas have been produced that make them 'Top-of-the-Heap'. In years past, we had to recommend organic (petroleum) based lubricants in the heaviest weights (140 to 250) to afford adequate protection for our HD4 in unlimited competition. That is no longer true. Currently, all HD4's are shipped with a case of Synergyn-Syngear II 85-140 weight pure synthetic lubricant. Synthetics are the only choice, PERIOD! If you are in a pinch and the only stuff you can find is petroleum, go ahead and use it. It will work and will mix easily with present day synthetics. Do not miss a dune trip because you can not find synthetic oil. FACTS Mid-engine transaxles will run 30-50 degrees hotter than similar rear-engine cars. Engine and exhaust heat blowover make it so. Lighter oils and lower oil levels deliver more horsepower and run cooler. Lighter oil makes syncro style gear boxes shift smoother and quicker. Synthetics have a much higher thermal threshold than petroleums. Upwards of 450 degrees. The average 3% nickel gear tempers (final heat treat stage) at 325% to 350%. The lubricant is stronger than your transaxle! Within today's Hi-performance automotive market, technology has made great strides. Light years' better products are currently available synthetic lubricants among them. PAY THE PRICE, GET THE BEST Mendeola Transaxles carries two brands of synthetic lubricants: Synergyn and Kendall. After 35 years in the gear business, we feel them to be 'reference' oils. They are the standard on which other lubricants are compared.

	2007-06-12 12:27:09 I'm back!
	I’ll start my third installment of Mike’s Gripes by apologizing for the severe lateness in its delivery. Trying to get the new plant up and running, along with a myriad of new gearbox designs has finally been caught up with. We (Mendeola Transaxles) are back on track! I apologize for the delay in writing this column. In the future this section will deal with items specific to Hi-Performance drive lines and related subjects. This information will be the culmination of our ‘35’ years of business and technical experience in this field. Every 6 weeks or so a new subject will be addressed pertaining to transaxles and chassis dynamics. I can better explain the causes of drive line failures and the cures for those failures in this type of forum. Maximizing performance advantages will also be discussed along with lubricants, shifting techniques and proper gearing. These all play a role in extended gearbox life and getting to victory lane. The topics to be covered will be very informative and to the point. E-mail us with a subject you’d like to see discussed.

	2005-05-09 02:39:33 Helical(angled) vs. Spur(straight cut) tooth forms
	A debate has been ongoing about the advantages and disadvantages of various tooth forms. The two most important being `helical' and `spur.' Spur gear proponents will contest that it is a more efficient tooth form and in most cases, they're correct. They'll also state that the spur tooth form is also stronger that it helical counterpart. That is absolutely false! Anyone generating this line of rhetoric does not know gears. Many variables must be taken into consideration to determine a tooth forms' overall strength. Pressure angle, pitch, lead angle, sliding velocities are just a few of the values needed to calculate load capabilities. MendeolaTransaxles almost exclusively utilizes helical toothforms in its' entire line of componentry. Two critical issues have always driven this decision, strength and noise reduction. The strength number is the paramount consideration. The contact ratio (the percentage of teeth in mesh between mating members) given a pitch and helix is stronger than its' spur cut cousin. In order to gain this advantage, it must also reduce its' efficiency. This percentage is extremely low, usually less than 1.5%. We feel this is a small price to pay for the increase in strength. Noise is usually considered more a nuisance rather than a mechanical failure. By utilizing the helical tooth form we are reducing the `slap' effect that is inherent to the spur gear. Keep in mind however, regardless of the toothform chosen, coarse pitch (larger teeth, but less of them) tooth forms are necessary for proper strength levels. In closing, don't just think because you have a `spur' gear designed trans that you have the optimal unit for your application. You might! You might not!

	2005-05-05 02:25:21 American Made Gear– Inferior???
	Currently some of our competitors have made mention that they’ve been forced to purchase European gearsets because of the inferiority of American made gearing. We strongly disagree!!! At the current time Mendeola Transaxles’ ring and pinion sets are manufactured exclusively in the United States. Our vendors manufacture every ring and pinion for NHRA Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro-Stock cars, not to mention NASCAR Nextel Cup, BUSCH and the Craftsman Truck Series. Every major sanctioning body uses these gearsets in one capacity or another. The expertise and engineering capabilities of our gear cutters is beyond question. We will unconditionally match our gearsets against any other similarly designed units, regardless of country of origin—not to mention price. God knows the U.S. can put a man on the moon and engineer the SR-71 Blackbird—but we can’t cut a gear for a Friggin’ race car!!! I DON’T THINK SO!!! Mike Mendeola

1695 CACTUS RD | SAN DIEGO | CALIFORNIA | 92154