DWeaver
Posted August 15, 2010
After reading only positive review about this book on other website i decided to add it to my collection. Unfortunately i was very dissapointed. This is definitally my least favorite out of 18 book have read on various automotive topics.
In the introduction to the book the author writes, "I have found that many of the issues surrounding understand rear axels can be traced back to simple lack of knowledge of the terms and what they mean." My thought after reading this statment is that the author will use the first chapter to explain the basic parts and terms related to rear axels. I couldn't have made a more foolish asumption. A step by step guide on how to rebuild an axel is given before you are provided with names or functions of the parts! The author never explain many terms and techniques he refers to throughout the book. This makes trying to follow his thoughts quite difficult. This is the worst part of the book.
I would not doubt that the author knows a lot about the driveline of a car, but he is terrible at sharing his knowledge. The book is unorganized, paragraphs are just a bunch of random, often unrealted thought smashed together, and even sentences don't make sense throughout the book.
Don't be fooled by the name either. This book contains no information regarding how to modify drivelines for high performance application other than generic thought like the thicker the gears the stronger and use tighter tolerances in racing applications.
The only positive comments i have about the book is that i did learn about the disassembly and reassembely of differentials. Although i would not rely on this book as a technical reference, it does provide the reader with enough information to decide if they are capable or willing to rebuild a differential.
I would not reccomend this book if you have no prior understanding of differentials and drivelines.
If you do have some understanding of these systems and are able to connect the dots with poor explanations and missing information, then i reccomend you read the book backwards. It will make more sense that way.
Unfortuanely this is the only book i have read on this topic and have no other books to reccomend.
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