Dirt Sports - September 2008 - (Page 80)
SIZE MATTERS: This comparision of input shafts shows a marked difference between the smaller unit for the Mendeola 2D (top) and the massive S4/S5D piece (below). BEEFY BEARINGS: One big area of importance for installers is in the area of the throw-out bearing. Kind of surprisingly, the Mendeola gearbox uses a modified late model VW throw-out bearing. Harold replaces the stock inner sleeve with a new, larger brass unit. This is to compensate for the larger input shaft necessitated by the use of sequential gears. off-the shelf item, but rather a modernday, high-tech marriage of a manufactur- er (Mendeola), a separate gear supplier (Weddle Industries) and a talented builder/retailer (Rancho Performance) that brings the best of each together in one incredible, and incredibly strong package. It is inexpensive? Hell no! At just over $16,000, it is the most expensive component on the car by far. But, when you look at all this engineering and reliability, it seems almost like a bargain. We spent a great day with the guys at Rancho screwing it all together. Here is a better look at our Project Plug N’ Play Mendeola S5D. SOURCES Mendeola Transaxles, Inc. San Diego, CA 619-710-8800 MendeolaTransaxles.com Weddle Industries Goleta, CA 805-562-8600 Rancho Performance Fullerton, CA 714-680-6737 RanchoPerformanceTrans.com 80 Dirt Sports Magazine I The Voice of Off-Road Motorsports
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.