The failure of flexible couplings due to wear and tear has a serious impact on driving comfort. To provide a solution to this issue, OPTIMAL has now added flexible couplings to its product line up. They offer an innovative combination of cord packs, rubber and steel sleeves that ensures a better driving experience.

Flexible couplings are also known as Hardy discs, named after their inventor, John Leslie Hardy. They are used in vehicles with rear wheel or all-wheel drive and are connected to the longitudinal shaft via the integrated precision steel sleeves. The special construction of the OPTIMAL flexible couplings in the form of innovatively arranged cord packs, a special rubber compound and high-quality steel sleeves enables the compensation of not only misalignments and axial play but also of juddering movements when starting the shaft or changing speed. This allows irritating vibrations and "juddering” to be avoided while driving.

Flexible couplings from OPTIMAL are for popular vehicle applications including BMW and Mercedes. The F3 flexible couplings are manufactured in Germany on state-of-the-art machines and subject to the quality standards for original equipment as required by TS16949. An optimised, internal cord structure guarantees efficient torque transmission and the composite rubber body supports and protects the cord skeleton so that the entire system achieves excellent attenuation properties. The flexible coupling also mean deviations of angle and length in the drive train can be reliably compensated for.