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DIY Driveshaft Tech

Toreadorranger

Atomic Test Lab Rat
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Can we get a good resource going for what people are building for driveshafts? Square, Round, Poop Pipe ect. I'm trying to figure out driveshafts for my low buck F250. Would be awesome to have a database of some basic dimensions and joint sizes of factory donor shafts as well as how people are building them.
 
Most I see on cars, trucks these days are round with a out .120 wall tube.

Talk to Jess at HID Paradise Calif.
 
In before the "square" crap.

let's add ag slip splines in here.
 
Most I see on cars, trucks these days are round with a out .120 wall tube.

Talk to Jess at HID Paradise Calif.

Jess makes a really nice product but that is not the purpose of this thread.
 
I’ve found the older Super Duty’s, 99-04ish have the best selection for 1 ton donor shafts.

most fronts are 1350 with a slip in the shaft, some are double cardon and/or flanged on the case side. Some rears are 1410 and flanged at both ends. I think it depends on trim level for what they get. I always look to the Ford isle at the pull a fart when on the hunt. They are are long enough that simply cutting them down works out well for Jeep/Buggy applications and they can be had for $40-$60.

More up the budget ladder I have a driveshaft shop that sells the Spicer yokes, slips, flanges, etc. When going that route I like to use .120 or .188 wall depending on the application.

I’ve always set my stuff up so the driveshafts are my “fuse” they’re the easiest to swap on the trail and shredding the occasional $50 junkyard shaft doesn’t hurt the wallet.
 
For years I ran square tube on my old Toyota. The truck was offroad only, but still saw speeds up to 45mph if we were running across a frozen lake.

2x2 ID and 2x2 OD in a .25 wall

Make sure to get seamless 2x2 ID or be prepared to grind a relief in your male shaft.

My only complaints were that they were heavy as hell, and if you had one sitting on a rock it wouldnt spin nicely like a round one would. I never broke one however.

On a budget truck that doesnt see the road, square tube is a good choice.
 
For years I ran square tube on my old Toyota. The truck was offroad only, but still saw speeds up to 45mph if we were running across a frozen lake.

2x2 ID and 2x2 OD in a .25 wall

Make sure to get seamless 2x2 ID or be prepared to grind a relief in your male shaft.

My only complaints were that they were heavy as hell, and if you had one sitting on a rock it wouldnt spin nicely like a round one would. I never broke one however.

On a budget truck that doesnt see the road, square tube is a good choice.

I have had my beater rig with square tube driveshafts up over 65 MPH, and was really surprised how smooth they are. Of course, I am running 38" tires with 4.10 gears in the axles, so the driveshaft speed is relatively low compared to vehicle speed. It came with the square driveshafts when I bought it, and in the past I would have never considered square driveshaft, but these work so well that for a pretty much trail only rig, they aren't a bad option. 4 spline shafts for the win! :flipoff2:
 
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I just hunted around a scrap driveshaft pile until I found the yoke and a slip I needed with a 2.5 od shaft attached. Slid them into 2.5" schedule 40, phased them with a level and used my eyeball dial indicator while spinning it installed in the rig to straighten. First run is this weekend I've only had it up to maybe 20mph so far but seems ok

Edit: Trail only rig

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Got this idea off the other site years ago. Took a couple thirty spline dana 60 stub shafts and turned a shoulder on the base of the yoke to press fit on this .180 wall dom rem I had in the rack. I used a 1/2” thick i.d drop and bored a hole to match the diameter to a press fit. I turned the od down to match the front output flange.

You gotta be careful to have enough clearance on the back side of the flange to clear the output shaft nut. I welded it all together mounted in the lathe using a couple steady rests. I don’t have any better pictures lost them to the photobucket disaster. The other end is a off the shelf spicer 1350 slip yoke.

The setup has been in the truck for 7 or so years. The most expensive item was the np205 flange.
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I rocked Sched 40 on my Samurai. Honestly though, I think driveshaft problems were the least of my worries.
 


Here is a super short one made out of all normal parts.

I needed something 12.5 inches for my flat fender build. 1310 double cardon bored to fit transfer case stub shaft. Tig welded and then driveshaft slip section with the forged yoke for the axle end..
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Most of the jeep driveshafts I build are 1/4 wall so you don't have to worry about where you may rub your shaft

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For Toyota driveshafts 2.5 Sch80 pipe works great. Cut the OEM end of carefully and clean them up. They fit the ID of the 2.5 in just about right. From there true them up and burn em in.
 
I just hunted around a scrap driveshaft pile until I found the yoke and a slip I needed with a 2.5 od shaft attached. Slid them into 2.5" schedule 40, phased them with a level and used my eyeball dial indicator while spinning it installed in the rig to straighten. First run is this weekend I've only had it up to maybe 20mph so far but seems ok

Edit: Trail only rig

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A quick and easy phasing trick I picked up the last time I was in a hurry is to take a few/4 sockets that just hit the caps and a piece of .25 wall box and kinda slip it all together and get it all flat with the box...It does 2 things

First off it gets it tits on for indexing and secondly while not perfect it makes the drive line fairly true because of all the machined surfaces.




EDIT




Ya gotta clamp it all together with clamps :laughing:. large "C"clamps work best.
 
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Another Getto Redneck trick I came up with years ago when I was RRRReeeeaaaaaallllll broke




Electrical tape!


Get a piece of pipe that your screwed up shaft fits in... Not super loose but not press fit.


Start building up the roached ends( the longer the better) until they're snugish...Phase it and ticky tacky until its good to burn in.



I ran a rear shaft like that for years and would do it again in a heart beat if it came down to it.




Don't just loosely wrap it...Make it a tight neat wrap as much like the roll of tape as possible as far apart as possible but not in the weld area.


It centers the old driveline in the new tube.
 
What kind of wheeler driveshaft is 1.5" x 120 wall?

Ive done a few of the scd 80 ones in a Toyota. Literally in the truck, eyeballing run out. I've had about 50% success with that method :laughing: I think it was mostly due to how much I cared to make it right.

The shaft is on the front of a rock lizard. Anything larger would eat the lower link. It’s almost impossible for a rock to touch it

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Im using F250 Super Duty rear shafts which are a two piece drive line. It has a splined carrier bearing yoke and shaft which is identical to a lot aftermarket DIY kits, the yoke is a Dana 60 pinion yoke. The joints are 1410.
 
Lots of good ideas! I had heard of using Toyota parts before but never F250 stuff.
 
what kind of jigs are you using for spin drive shaft and measure run out? i saw one time some used an old tcase i thought. i am fighting a carrier bearing drive shaft and getting the run out under .010 , from what i read it need about half that much.
 
what kind of jigs are you using for spin drive shaft and measure run out? i saw one time some used an old tcase i thought. i am fighting a carrier bearing drive shaft and getting the run out under .010 , from what i read it need about half that much.
I usually just tack it up enough to get it in the vehicle and then check/adjust with it installed
 
I usually just tack it up enough to get it in the vehicle and then check/adjust with it installed
I do the same.
Most of the time I don't even tack it up before install.
 
well fudge. i am basely doing that too using busted knuckle carrier bearing kit and it feels like i get one side ok the other gives me greif. i may completely start over tonight

the bearing is bolted down to the table and i am spinning the shaft. but fudge i feel like i a dog chasing his tail.

i will keep at and use a smaller hammer and more patience for sure


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I don't have any pics, but on my old truck I ran a cut down Toyota driveline as my front driveline. I learned a few things.

1. Always use genuine Toyota bolts/nuts/washers. Grab them from the junkyard whenever you see a toyota.

2. I made my own pinion flange, and it didn't break (TBI 350, 37s, D44, Rubicon/Fordyce rig). I machined the yoke portion off of a couple D44 pinion yokes, machined a flat flange from A36 steel, and TIG welded it on. The flat flange had both a register to center it on the hacked up pinion yoke, and a register to center the Toyota flange yoke flange. I never had an issue, but I think I'd just buy them now. I had more time than money then, and had access to a big machine shop at school.

3. Don't try to change Toyota driveshaft u-joints, they're held in with some Japanese magic and don't wear out. Replace the whole driveline if need be.

4. You can get a little more compression travel, maybe an inch off the top of my memory, by removing the dust shield and then turning down the surface where the dust shield was crimped on. It needs to be turned down so the female spline can slide over it.

5. I had one spline yoke fail where the female splined portion basically had too much hoop stress and split lengthwise. I prevented that from happening again by welding a sleeve over the female spline. This may have happened because I was pushing the limits on how little engagement I could run at full droop, but it never happened again after the sleeve.

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