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driveshaft shortening..

ryoken

ryoken

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anybody have any pics of the grinding of the weld, cutting at the end, needed to remove a yoke? I know it's been covered... I'm assuming that's the best way to shorten one... cut/remove yoke, shorten tube, reinstall yoke, nuke in....
 
Thats how I have done it, cut the yoke/cv/whatnot off, the put the remaining tube in a "perfectly square" bandsaw and cut to new length, crank it up to nuclear and burn it on. The main problem is it wont be balanced anymore, not sure how important that is for what your going to use it on.
 
Thats how i did mine too, if its going to see any street use BALANCE IT!!!!! i made the mistake of skipping the balance and i soon had to replaced the tranny the tcase and of course the driveshaft plus the rearend yoke. expensive mistake and lesson learned.
 
I just did one today, the paint is drying atm. I drew a straight line around the tube and used a cut-off wheel, my saw flexed enough that it wasn't true. Also got the yoke in phase on a flat surface (marble counter top) then pounded it in. Tack one side, tack other... Rolled on counter to watch for trueness and burned in. Removing the yoke is as you described basically. Cut a section out to verify depth of yoke in tube, then go around tube and hammer off with a chisel. Easy peasy... I poured a quart of atf in mine, heard it can help with balancing. If it works, I saved about 345 from my local dl builder. I'll report my results.

345 was for a complete shaft obviously.
 
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yeah, balancing.... it's the rear shaft in the DD, so it's an issue...

I checked, I apparently have a driveshaft shop about 15 miles from me...

I was thinking that I'd shorten it and burn it in a 1/2 dozen spots around the shaft, than baby it down there the next morn for a balance... that way, if he finds it's really out, it can be easily corrected and reburned in, and balanced....

only thing that sucks is that's highway driving up to the shop.. eh, I could backroad it and keep it down to 40 or so...
 
Wonder what it would cost them to just do the whole thing? I'm guessing they may rather do that than work with what you shortened, plus....it may be cheaper.

You are $$$ smart, but double check with them. Not Always easier to do it yourself.
 
FWIW I made my front dl as well (33" yoke to yoke), no vibes up to 38ish mph... 1/2 quart atf.
This is with an sm465, 5.13's and 38's.
so she's spinning fast.

IMAG0231.jpg


Here's the rear (57.5" yoke to yoke), going in as soon as I can handle the paint.

IMAG0229.jpg


IMAG0230.jpg


I will obviously have it balanced unless I hit the powerball (which I didn't last night :[)
 
dhcomp said:
Wonder what it would cost them to just do the whole thing? I'm guessing they may rather do that than work with what you shortened, plus....it may be cheaper.

You are $$$ smart, but double check with them. Not Always easier to do it yourself.
Click to expand...

Well worth doing yourself, especially if you've got the skill Paul does. Its very easy to get trued up. At most you'll take it in for a simple balance.
 
my issue is having the rig down, getting a ride to the shaft shop, etc.....

i'm gonna do new perches, moving the axle forward a few inches, getting appropriate angles, etc, than shortening the shaft because it will no longer fit.... it's already a bit long.. so I'm figuring it'll probably be about 3"s or so...

i figure make an appointment at shaft place for monday morning, take it off the road sat morn, get my sh*t all set, burn the perches in, shorten the shaft and tack... than go monday morn for the balance.. pull it in the parking lot and hand it to him...
 
Couldn't you drive in front wheel drive (assuming you have a front drive shaft) so you don't have to pull your rear shaft in the p-lot.
 
:doah:hmmm, I'm fixed yoke on the 205, but that would require the front shaft to actually be installed... :whistle: :doah: :haha:

which is sitting in the back of the K5 waiting for that day.. :doah: good, thanks, i needed a reminder to get to that this weekend... thats the perfect back up plan... :bow:
 
Paul make marks, be careful cutting and be careful putting the slug back in.

Keep everything in line, if your balance weights are on the end of the tube and you cut them off, knock em off and put em back on in the same place.

I have done probably 20 rears and at least four or five the guys never took em to get balanced and no problems.

Those weren't huge rockcrawlers either, one was an early bronco, 35" bfgs on it. He never took that thing to get balanced even though I told him too and has been driving on it for 2 years. Doesn't wear out u joints and he drives it 80 mph all the time
 
what's the best way to get the slug out? grind the weld down flat, than a cutoff wheel a 1/4" to 1/2" up from the end or so? i take it the yoke slug will extend an inch or so into the shaft past the weld...
 
I don't even bother to grind it down flat, start with a cut off.

If you are making it several inches shorter I cut it off where it needs to be then start cutting the slug out its easier to beat out when you can hit it on the back side with a punch or something.

Its also easier to put a small piece in a vice.

Yah the slug will go past an inch or so
 
ok, cool, that all makes sense.. thanks!

note to self... see, if you had a horizontal bandsaw, it would probably be a good tool for this! :doah: :pimp: one day.... :popcorn:
 
ryoken said:
ok, cool, that all makes sense.. thanks!

note to self... see, if you had a horizontal bandsaw, it would probably be a good tool for this! :doah: :pimp: one day.... :popcorn:
Click to expand...

yes and no its hard to get it all squared up to cut off the slug.

I have never had a problem with the tube not being cut straight, you usually have to hammer the slug in anyway, it does a good job getting itself squared up
 
When I built the K30 this summer I called around to a few big truck/ spring shops in Baltimore and found one who shortened and balanced my rear (~14") for $70. I dropped it off in the am and they had it done by lunch. Most of the ones I talked to said if I wasn't re tubing it would be less then$100.

What Eric said on cutting out the ends works great, I cut up an old rear shaft from my 12 valves donor to get the 1410 yokes for my [] tube front :D
 
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