CV driveshafts

[K5dreamer]

Ok, sooooo my plan for lifting the truck has changed..... yet again.

no more 4in lift, no more waffling on all spring, or spring/block setup, and the 52's and shackle flip are out.

scored a set of BDS 6in lift springs for all four corners from a member of the bretheren. more lift than i was planning on, but for the price, i really cant argue.

SO, did some digging, and realize ill need a dropped steering arm, longer brake lines, and of course new shocks, and probably new driveshafts

The shocks will likely be the superduty shocks.

now for driveshafts, apparently the ones i have will work for moving the truck around and maybe some short jaunts, but the u-joints apparently wear out every 2 months if i were "daily driving". Remembering the cost of U-joint replacement from before ($500), and realizing with the 1 ton axles ill need at least conversion u-joints, ive decided the most cost effective thing to do is get CV driveshafts.

the one link i got from my searching was.....
www.highangledriveline.com

but i was wondering if yall had any other suggestions? Also, are there any factory applications that had this style driveshaft? that maybe i could find at the junkyard?

 

[K5dreamer]

these guys seem to be reasonably priced.....

http://www.driveshaftsuperstore.com/

 

[chalet2506]

front driveshaft out of 99-2002 Ford superduty is 1350 cv and will be pretty close. The one I picked up fit my 76 with th350/np205 looks like it will fit perfect with 4" springs and 2" blocks in the rear. There's 3 or 4 different lengths for that Ford application.

 

[K5dreamer]

and the more i read...... do i need CV driveshafts front AND rear with 6in lift? or just the CV front?

may even do the slip yoke eliminator if i do a rear CV driveshaft.

 

[K5dreamer]

more ford parts!

ah well, if it works im down, well played good sir

cant imagine they are cheap over the counter though. Ill have to do some measuring after i put the lift on, and then do the junkyard crawl with a tape measure.

So you said that was the front driveshaft out of the SD right? seems pretty long, are you putting that on the front, or the rear of your blazer?

 

[chalet2506]

rear. I paid $220 for mine at the junkyard, but they ordered it in from a different place. If you find one and pull it yourself, I'd guess around $150. CV is in good shape, just needs a new rear u-joint.

Also, not my idea. Obijuan has the same shaft in one of his trucks.

 

[Blue85]

You probably already have CV in front. The advantage of the C/V driveshaft is that it reduces driveline vibration. You can actually get more working angle out of a large single U-joint, which would work great for a trail-only rig. The trick for the front is to get a CV with additional angle, and if possible a longer slip. Something like this should work - just tell him what you need. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I don't know if you would need to grind the stops on the CV, but you would have to with the stock joint. I have 4" springs with 2" longer shackles and I didn't have to grind (I have the Tatton shaft linked above).

For the rear, you don't have to do SYE in order to do a CV, but it is nicer. AFAIK, Tom Woods is the only ones selling a SYE for the 208 and it's a package deal, buying the shaft from them as well and having them machine your current tailhousing. I did a SYE and used a stock front output flange on the rear output and had the C/V built to match:

The advantages were just to save $100 for the custom flange use a readily available part. (If the lengths weren't different I could also swap the shafts front to rear)

Most people here will steer you to HAD, with a few suggesting Tom Woods. Most here will tell you to avoid driveshaftsuperstore.

 

[K5dreamer]

Ill check the front driveshaft when i get home, i know its a slip member shaft, but i didnt check to see if its a CV. So im guessing if it is a CV, i just need to address the rear driveshaft. good to know.

and thanks for the tips, i kinda though that there was a catch to the prices on driveshaftsuperstore, ill take another look at HAD, and take a first look at tom woods.

 

[K5dreamer]

ok, so branch off question from the original theme.

so, at some point, im planning on a NV4500/NP205/LoMax swap. That means i should probably do a SYE, with a flange style driveshaft, so i can simply unbolt the driveshafts, drop in the new drivetrain, and then bolt the flange driveshaft up to the NP205/LoMax TC.

or am i gonna need to buy whole new driveshafts for the gearbox swap?

If thats the case..... Ill probably just run my stock driveshafts for the time being, i certainly dont DD the thing anymore, so maybe ill wait on driveshafts until i do the gearbox swap, and do it all right at the same time. That way i could even clock the TC for a flat belly and all that jazz.

Thanks all

 

[obijuan]

just put a 205 in it now with the fixed yoke. high angle driveline flange and the superduty driveshaft. works awesome.

i do have two SD shafts and one is four inches longer than the other that fits great.
my buddy has has that is nealy a foot longer than the perfect fit. i would guess that the one i am using is from a manual trans? roughly 42 something inches.

 

[bp71k5]

If you're going to add an nv4500 at some point, those are longer than most other trans so your shafts will likely change when you do it.

 

[K5dreamer]

If you're going to add an nv4500 at some point, those are longer than most other trans so your shafts will likely change when you do it.

yeah thats what i was thinkin, like i said, i dont drive the truck much anymore, so ill probably just buzz around town when i get the big tires, lift, and one tons in there. Start saving pennies again, get the NV4500, NP205, lowmax gears, and install those all at once, and then measure and order driveshafts at that point.

although the priority right now is fixing the speedo cable so the speedometer works again