Drive shaft confusion???

[Dodger]

Hey there everyone,

Ok so I am finally back from Iraq and now have my truck project to take on. After adjusting the wheel base to 85" off the back of the cab I now have 78" between the rear end and transmission. The drive shafts are 60" long (I have three of them) I know I have to use the one with the splines on one end. That leave about 18" to cover. The coupler that slips over the splines takes up about 6" of that leaving 12" left. I was going to have two drive shafts shortened to make up the distance. After called my local drive shaft shop (yes there really is one here) the guy told me that I only need to shorten one shaft (would be 12") and make sure the short shaft is on the transmission end. Does this sound about right? Thanks for any help,

Dodger

[mmmc101]

I would suggest you go with a single driveshaft for that short a distance.(keep it simple) I recently removed the front rearend from my W900. The distance from the slip yoke to the back rearend called for a 74 inch driveshaft. I went to the local truck salvage and purchased a longer shaft than was required. ($50 same dia.and splines as my old shaft) The driveshaft shop cut this to the length I needed,welded on new yoke and balanced the assy. $150. Much cheaper than having a new shaft built from scratch ($500).
MMM

[volvoman]

max tube lenght is 60" from weld to weld. then you add on yoke lenghts. they make different lenght slip and stub lenghts. check with driveline shop for sizes. when measuring driveshaft lenght measure from center of u joint to center of u joint. if you go with a two piece driveline try to go with a 60/40 split. trans (front) should be short shaft. check crossmembers for where support bearing can be mounted.

[Dodger]

Thanks for the info, I am dropping them off on Monday to be shortened. They should be done in a week or so.

[Dodger]

Ok, so I finally got my drive shafts back, and I am not really happy. Beyond the fact that they took well over the week to finish, they are not how I wanted them. I took them to a drive shaft shop and gave them the sizes I needed. I wanted a 60/40 split with a new hangar bearing on the front shaft. When I showed up to pick them up, it is more like a 80/20. The rear shaft is the longer one, and the front is the shorter.Is this going to be ok to run?

[volvoman]

what are the measurements center of front u joint to center bearing bolt hole and then center bearing bolt hole to rear of rear universal joint. do you have a cross member to mount center bearing on? also have to watch drive shaft angles.

[Dodger]

Well I feel a lot better now, the shafts are in, and yes I had an extra support for the center bearing. I met with a company that shortens trucks on a regular basis outside of Nashville TN. They looked at pictures of my setup (since it is not driving quite yet)and looked at the measurements, and said it is all good. Next is brakes and finishing up the single 5" stack project. Then it is time to put the box on it and really get to work.

[Bob86ZZ4]

Good deal. I was guessing they would know what to do about building those axles and such.