Machined Square Driveshaft

[guywithuglyyota]

I was in desperate Need of a front driveshaft. The shop that had my cv core stopped answering the phone....and I am now in Alaska, so I was SOL.

Well Bluetoy84 came to my rescue, he has a unique method of building the venerable square driveshaft. Here is his original post:

I built mine a little different than the ones I've seen on the web. This is works great if you have acces to a machine shop or know someone who does.  Here's what I did and why:

First off I used welded seam tubing for both ends instead of seamless reciever hitch tubing for the 2.5" end. With the seamless tubing you have a ton of play between the two pieces. If you get welded seam tubing the 2" will not slide into the 2.5" because of the weld seam. What I done to fix this was drive the 2" into the 2.5" with a hammer about an inch deep. This made a mark on the 2" where the weld was hitting. I then machined a .125" groove .060" deep all the way down the 2" to clear the weld seam. It fits really good, almost no slack.

I used two slip yoke ends instead of a CV joint on one end. I just don't see the point of putting a CV on a square shaft   . I like having two u-joints a lot better.

Instead of grinding the yokes square , I put the tubing in a 4-jaw chuck on a lathe and bored the ends of the tubing to the diameter of the yokes. On the 2'' piece I had to bore about .050" for the yoke to fit. The 2.5'' end was already bigger than the dia. of the yoke , so I sawed a piece of 2'' about an inch long and slid it in the end of the 2.5'' , welded it in place , and then bored it.

By boring the tubing instead of grinding on the yokes I know that the yokes are straight and centered in the tubing. Before I welded the yokes on I knocked out both U-joints , slid the driveshaft together , and alinged the two ends so that the U-joints will be clocked the same. This works great. I've had mine up to 65mph with no noticable vibrations.

The reason you get vibration from a square shaft is because their is no way you can get it straight by grinding the yokes square. The fact that it is square has little to do with vibration. A round shaft has to be straight within .040" before a driveshaft shop will even try to balance it. If a round shaft does not run true it will vibrate like crazy , if it does run true there is almost no need for balancing. Same goes for a square shaft.

As long as everything is straight and you don't have a lot of slack in the slip part , it shouldn't vibrate. Straightness is more important than anything when it comes to balancing a driveshaft.   

Sorry for the long post. I hope I haven't confused anyone. I just thought I would ad my     

Check out the Engraving! This thing is all business. With about 3-4" compression, and 18" of slip!  There is no notorious slop, so commonly found in other square d-shafts.


You will notice that I have a horrible driveshaft angle right now. This is contributed to my virgin Marlift springs, and Front Range Off Road crossmember which tucks the t-case up higher than usual.  Unfourtunately i do have a vibration but this is contributed by the steep angle I am running at present. BlueToy84 is running this same setup with more conservative lift, and is capable of speeds to about 65MPH before he gets any Vibes!
The Crafstmanship on this thing is top notch! I was very impressed with the welds, and how stout this thing is. He also took the time to drill and tap each side of the shaft for ZERK fitting provisions, making servicing much easier. It is definately the last driveshaft I will ever have to buy...

Luke

[RHG]

So is bluetoy producing these? I'll have to keep him in mind for when I am in need of a new d-shaft after I dual up.

[Brandon]

that sure sounds like a lot of work! I prefer to just call up HiAngle and order what I need 

[Ramrod]

I had another driveshaft made out of that size metal and liked it so much more than what I have now.  All I did was hammer it together till it was the right length and then let the truck move it around to get it to slide right

[yodersgirl]

 looks nice 

[pumkin toy]

Nice Shaft!

[bluetoy84]

So is bluetoy producing these? I'll have to keep him in mind for when I am in need of a new d-shaft after I dual up.

I was hoping to get about 5-10 orders and build several at once so I can keep the cost down. I can build them one at a time but it would cost more. If I knew that I could sell them I would go ahead and build about 10 . Price is probably going to be about $275 for one with new u-joints or $200 and you supply the u-joints.  That's not a bad price if you consider that a long spline kit (only 8" slip) from marlin is $169 and you still have to have your tube lengthened and welded.

What do Ya'll think    should I go ahead and build a few? Would anyone buy one? Let me know what you think. Thanks.

[Matty]

ya man i might take you up on one....looks sick    good work