Topic: welding front driveshaft???

[85yotapolo]

ok so my friend hooked me up with extended front driveshaft and i went to go get it priced to have it installed guy wants 150... i though i can do it at home... all it looks like is grind down old welds and throw in and re-weld......

i tried to remove shaft from t-case but its too hard to get into, so i want to drop t-case in order to remove....

i never had to remove my t-case soooo how hard is it to do?? or any other ideas removing bolts from t-case... think its like 4 bolts holding shaft on...

[82juguete]

    hmmmm.................... very confusing post but all i can say is

1) it doesnt cost 150 to INSTALL a driveshaft... getting it retubed or new u joints or lengthened/ shortened, maybe i could see 150.

2) installing a DS doesnt require welding, nor dropping the transfer case. its 4 bolts at the diff end and 4 bolts at the tcase end.

Im thinkin you'reconfused about something, if you clarify a little we can provide more help.

[-Matt-]

i understand what your saying, it would cost 150 to do it professionally (from most places) but in my opinion if you can grind/weld/and cut you'll be able to do just as good of a job. it might not be balanced as well but its not really necessary on the front, especially since those long travel splines get a lot of play in the anyways once they break in.

just like you said grind the welds at the ends of the tube on the stock drive line, once the welds ground off hit it with a hammer to fully break it loose on both ends. cut the tube to its new length, and slip on the new drive line ends and weld it up. since your reusing the stock tubing it will fit really snug which makes it nice to weld and also keep everything really straight so you wont get a wobbly drive line.  

as far as taking the drive line off, your right about it being a pita on the tranfercase side, but there's tricks to take it off easily, i wouldn't know how to explain how to do it...but just use 2 open end wrenches, you just have to place them in the right position and it will be easy.

taking the t case off, or your crossmember would be a complete waste of time.

[85yotapolo [OP]]

matt knows what im talking about lol,,,

yea i suck with details lol.... pretty much what he is saying tho,,, went to shop and got quote to have it welded in and balanced..... but yea tomorrow night im gonna try again to remove shaft from t-case....

from looking at it thats all it looks like too just grind down welds and slid other one in and weld it up,,,,, ill try take pics

[germ]

Removing the shaft is obviously pretty easy. (2) 14mm open end wrenches and a bit of elbow grease, and it's done.

As far as welding up the new shaft, I'd make yourself a jig to ensure that the shaft stays good and straight. I've seen a few people weld up a shaft, which has a slight bow to it, and the shaft wobbles it's way to an early death. Not to mention killing the U-joints off during their teenage years. Not much fun being bound up, giving a little skinny pedal, and hearing that front shaft give the scream of death as it comes apart.

I wouldn't worry too much about balancing the front shaft unless you drive in the snow and keep the front end locked in at higher speeds (20mph +). If you plan on doing that, it'd be worth the $150 to have a shop weld it up right for you, and balance it at the same time.

Erik

[MikeCL]

Get your self a dial indicator and magnetic base. Cut down the drive shaft tube to length and press it back together. The bolt the drive shaft into the truck, make sure you keep the yokes in phase. Now place the dial indicator base on the diff or frame, and measure how far out of round the shaft is. You will see it climb, then drop again. Stop at the high points and tap at the seam with a hammer. Get it as round as possible, then tack weld it once, check again. Adjust if needed, and tack weld 180° from the first weld. Check again, tack between the other two tacks, check and tack one more time. One final check, then weld it up

I just shortened my rear drive shaft my self after installing my Marlin dual case setup, and it was much easier then I thought it would be. Came out to about 0.010" out of round, no vibes at all. Though I am still going to have front and rear shafts made with heavy wall tubing as well as balanced. But I needed to get the truck back on the road.

[minicrawlin]

ha ha MikeCL has 2 posts since becoming a member in Dec 06 and you pull this out? Man where you been, we all need some good advice like that time to time!! Chime in more lol. I was gonna suggest the ole' two 2x4's, roll, tack weld, roll again tack and so on but yours seems to be a little better suited!

Make sure when you cut the weld off the original you try to stay right with the original weld and dont go too far into the cup or you'll sacrifice strength! I say weld it up yourself for the front driveline unless like Erik said your doing 20 mph plus with it locked all the time or something!

[MikeCL]

To many boards to keep up with