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Driveshaft Balance Alternatives

USSkoval

USSkoval

Thornbirds look cool... Yeah, I said it
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So I'm trying to throw something together real quick and I need to shorten a drive shaft and swap a yoke too. I don't currently have the time to drop it off at a driveline shop for a balance.

Think I could balance it with BB's, as if it was a tire? It's the forward half of a 2-piece shaft so it sits somewhat level.

Or is my crazy ass idea a dumb one and I should just run it unbalanced until I can have it done? Obviously, if there does end up being noticeable vibration, high speeds will be kept to a minimum.
 
I would try and keep the yoke exactly clocked the same and if you need to adjust the balance use a hose clamp. that way you can turn to different spots.
 
Hose clamps is a good idea. Maybe it will just run ok and I don't even need to worry about it... yeah right, not with my luck haha.

So I'll be replacing the front yoke and the front tube with a used donor, and mating it to my original carrier yoke. Where I have to shorten the used tube has the weights on it. Should I transfer the weights over and weld them back on it the same spot? Since I'm using 2/3rds of that shaft, the balance may be similar? Or does the rear half of the shaft generally have a large influence on where the weights need to be?

I've got the new trans and t-case in the truck now, I'll be tackling the shaft tonight.
 
Your short-term criteria means that you don't really care about it being right. For the front you can just leave the hubs unlocked and T-case in neutral and a bum driveshaft won't bother you on the road.

If you intend to drive in 4WD on roads of course you'll get a proper driveshaft balance.
 
Blue85 said:
Your short-term criteria means that you don't really care about it being right. For the front you can just leave the hubs unlocked and T-case in neutral and a bum driveshaft won't bother you on the road.

If you intend to drive in 4WD on roads of course you'll get a proper driveshaft balance.
Click to expand...

I want it right, I just don't have the time for it to be right. I currently only have the time for me to do it myself and hope for the best. If it happens to have a vibration (I'm betting it will) then I'll have a local shop make it right at a later date.

Also, it's not the front shaft, it's the front half of the rear shaft (crew cab). My th400 took a dump on Tuesday, so now I'm installing a th400/205 in place of the th400/203. The shaft needs to be longer now and it also needs to have a 1350 joint instead of the previous 1310. So I'm using a donor shaft to build what I need.
 
Here's what I have going on:
20230802_231448.jpg

The shaft on the left is the donor. It has the longer tube I need, along with a 1350 yoke. The rear carrier yoke is a fine spline, so I can't use that part.

First I did a test removal on the part I don't need. I've never done this before.
20230802_233121.jpg

So then I did the same on the stock shaft. I measured everything like 15 times and cut the donor tube, then fit it to the stock carrier yoke.

20230803_003140.jpg

I checked the alignment in 4 places around the shaft with an angle finder. It seems square. I'll weld it in the morning, it's late and I'm beat.
 
There's an old trick of putting ATF inside the tube. I've never tried it.
 
It will be just fine unbalanced I bet. Both of mine on my blazer are home job shortened shafts and neither one is out of balance too bad. We used to build driveshafts at the truck shop I worked at for semis and never ever balanced a single one and they were just fine. I was also taught to never recheck alignment once you weld it because it will be out.
 
Lol, I actually did recheck the alignment after I welded it and it still seemed straight. Before I welded it all up, I put 4 tacks around it to prevent it from moving. I don't know if that method worked, or my measurements just aren't accurate.

It's all welded up and installed in the truck, but I need to add t-case fluid before I can road test it. Wish me luck, haha.

20230803_083128.jpg20230803_102601.jpg
 
We had a big giant old lathe we used to true them up in with a dial indicator and do the four tacks thing and weld it up.
 
Well, that was a learning experience. If I was welding on a standard yoke, it probably would have been fine. But that long carrier/slip yoke deal is evidently way more sensitive. The front yoke of the rearmost shaft has a pretty good wobble to it. I'll definitely need to have the shaft done by professionals in the near future.

But in the mean time, I grabbed a couple really large washers, bent them and then hose clamped them to the rear shaft. I also wrapped the nonsense in tape. After a drive, it'll do for now. There's a noticeable vibration at certain speeds, but I've been in trucks that vibrated far worse.
 
Since you went from 203, full time ? Did you change to locking hubs or remove driveshaft new vib might be from front.
 
Wes Harden said:
Since you went from 203, full time ? Did you change to locking hubs or remove driveshaft new vib might be from front.
Click to expand...

I removed the front shaft years ago due to a bad pinion bearing and I've never got around to fixing it yet. It's mostly always been a nice weather truck.

I had the truck up on stands with it running in gear, I could visibly see the runout where the rear slip yoke went onto the shaft that I modified. That's how I knew where to clamp the balance washers on.
 
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