[NotThere]

I have no idea - but an Opel GT is a seriously COOL car!

[China Clipper]

Does your Opel GT have a dent in the rear of the boot? (trunk)

Yup, I think they build 'em with that darn dent....

[Robert A Cook PE]

(Robt pings xena because she likes heavy torque tubes....)

(WhyisaTexasgirlgettingtubedinTX?)

[shibumi]

It’s a Dunsel.

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Dunsel

[James C. Bennett]

More mass implies more angular momentum. The mass might have been built into the shaft to allow the car to overcome deformations on the path without overloading the engine with shock loads.

[nuconvert]

“My torque tube needs help. Why should I do it?”

Take a shower & call your Dr in the morning.

[mnehring]

It keeps this from happening

[gov_bean_ counter]

This thread could go downhill quickly...

[freebilly]

Wikipedia--

A torque tube system is an automobile driveshaft technology, used in cars with a front engine and rear drive. It is not as widespread as the Hotchkiss drive, but is still occasionally used to this day.

The "torque" that is referred to in the name is not that of the driveshaft, along the axis of the car, but that applied by the wheels. The design problem that the torque tube solves is how to get the traction forces generated by the wheels to the car frame. The "torque tube" transmits this force by directly coupling the axle differential to the transmission and therefore propels the car forward by pushing on the engine/transmission and then through the engine mounts to the car frame.

[mylife]

A friend of mine had one of those in HS.
It was yellow.
He had Earl Schieb paind it green, the left the headlight cowlings yellow.
The car was ever after known as “Froggie”

[jessduntno]

I would start talking with these guys:

http://www.opelclub.com/index.html

They look like they know what they are doin ...

[shibumi]

Seriously.

It’s there to keep the flayrods from going out of skew on the treadle.

[madamemayhem]

your what? needs what? geez, i’ve heard a lot of names for it but that sure takes the taco. sounds like a personal problem ya got there.

[Billthedrill]

Got nuttin' to do with engine torque (directly). It's that design's way of transferring the tires' traction forces to the frame. Essentially it transfers the push to the engine through the tranny, and to the car through the engine mounts.

Without it, those forces would very likely form a singularity that would devour the entire earth. Well, some of it, anyway. We'd lose Toledo, for sure.

[cripplecreek]

If I had a dollar for every time I needed help with my torque tube......

[TonyInOhio]

Have you adjusted the disgronificator?

[Kirkwood]

“The torque tube extends from the transmission to the axle and encases the driveshaft. The axles and gearbox are essentially connected and as a result, no trailing arms or multi link suspensions are necessary. This system allows for extreme axle articulation but prevents the axle from being contorted when it is at extreme compression or droop. It also prevents axle wind-up and axle hop, and encloses the driveshafts and protects them from obstacles and the elements. “

[The Comedian]

It's used to stune your flux capicitor's beeber.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Kirkwood]

It directs force from the rear wheels back through the drive train to push the car forward rather than through the rear suspension to the frame.

[The Cajun]

Bought a 1970 Opel GT third hand in 1982, what a great little car (Poor Man's Corvette). Regret selling it in 1989 to this day. Got twice what I paid for it from a collector (This was his third).
That little four cylinder Adams Opel engine would run like a spotted a$$ ape! Got it up to 125 MPH with some left to go.