Long Spline Driveshaft How-to

[scott.475]

What do you have to do to make these kits work? I would love to see some pictures from those who have done this, showing how and what to cut and weld, etc. You know, all the usual stuff...

[84runner]

do you plan on buying a kit or doing it all yourself ?  You basically need some driveline spline and spline tubing , cut, measure, and weld. make sure you square it up perfect though. Or you can just buy a kit and lengthen your spline tubing and ball it done

[scott.475]

Yeah, my question was in reference to the kits that Marlin, All Pro, etc offer, where you just modify the shaft. I guess I don't understand what all actually gets cut and welded. Do you actually weld the shafts themselves together? If so, I'd be a little freaked that I couldn't get the splines to line up, etc. I am asking as a total non-welder, so you know where I'm coming from.

[WHITE_TRASH]

Picture this, you driveline is 20" long.  4" is the u-joint by the transfercase, 6" is driveline tube and the remaining 10' is the combined slip yoke and bottom u-joint.  When you droop the passenger side the driveline pulls apart since there is only 6" of extension available.  So you buy a longer slip ass. from someone that has 8" of travel available, if you were to just cut off the old slip and weld the new one on the driveline would be 2' longer than it was.  So to compensate for that you need to cut the driveline tube 2" shorter and weld the new slip on.  Now your driveline is still 20" long but now it has 8" of slip.

[Hyena]

Well Said WT!   

[scott.475]

Okay, so your not welding a splined section to another splined section, but just replacing the entire section all together, right? Thanks a lot, very well explained.

[WHITE_TRASH]

You got it.  Its a total replacement, slip-spline and all.

[Skinny_Pedal]

is this a lot more cheaper than having a new one made? and is it a good solution?

[84runner]

is this a lot more cheaper than having a new one made? and is it a good solution?

most of the time doing it yourself is a always cheaper and a good solution depends on how well you can weld 

[HyDesertMutant]

From what I understand the kit that both marlin and allpro sells are the same. I got mine from alllpro only because I live a short drive distance from Hemet, CA where allpro are located and I didnt want to pay and wait for shipping. I took my kit to the good local driveline shop here and he took my old front driveline and after a few measurements, cut the tube at the CV end and plugged in the new thang, stuck it on his machine, like a lathe, and welded it together at it spun. He then balanced it and that was that.
One thing to remember- If you have an older truck like my 82, you are going to  need a newer style flange for the differential in order to match the bolt pattern of the new driveline end, as well as the 4 dealer only bolts that hold it on there.