Homemade CV Joints

[blazerpro79]

hey im moving up to a 10" lift from a 5". ive already bought everything and before putting it on, i dropped the tcase and got shims for the diff. i am gonna do a cv conversion but have few quick questions...

1. could i take the cv assembly off the front and put it on the rear?

2. is there an h joint and bearing you can buy and just put another u joint into and have it still fit into the stock np203 tcase?

 

[pauly383]

You want to make your own cheap , you can use front stuff . I suspect it isn't up to being a rear , since it has 1310 u-joints . The factory went bigger in the 80's , and every thing over 1/2 ton is 1350 , which is much better .

To do it right you need to order some stuff , the same stuff driveshaft shops order .


I found some great PDF files online in the last 2 minutes that show part numbers , interchanges , and how to measure and select what you want Clicky here

 

[moturbopar]

Hi, I dont know if this helps or not, but I had a 76 cadillac that used CVs on both ends of the drive shaft. I know the cvs and u-joints are bigger than the ones used on the front driveshaft of the truck. I still have the cad drive shaft someplace I wonder what size u joints it uses?

 

[pauly383]

Look at the Caddy Slip yoke , I believe it isn't splined all the length of it , thats why its frowned upon to make a CV slip shaft for a truck

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

Look at the Caddy Slip yoke , I believe it isn't splined all the length of it , thats why its frowned upon to make a CV slip shaft for a truck

Yep.

Any and all CVs you'll find in wrecking yards are going to be 1/2 ton rated. I wouldn't waste your time.

 

[diesel4me]

I got a caddy shaft too..

I have a caddy shaft from the 76 coupe deville I got the 500 and TH400 out of--it has the bigger "internal C clip" u-joints used on most larger GM cars like buick,pontiacs and olds--I know the caddy yoke isn't splined all the way to the end,but why couldn't you use a TH400 stock yoke from a buick, pontiac or olds,or even the slip yoke off a NP208 like my 82 K20 has with a TH400--or is the main reason for wanting to do this is to eliminate the slip yoke altogether??--if the caddy "H" yokes would work,its a cheap way to get two of them at the boneyard,buying a caddy driveshaft....

 

[big83chevy4x4]

you need to have a centering ball in the cv to make it work. you can't just add one to the stock yoke for a 208, just like you can't add splines to the caddy CV yoke.

Any and all CVs you'll find in wrecking yards are going to be 1/2 ton rated. I wouldn't waste your time.

even the ones for the f350 superduty with the 1350 CV?

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

The reason you can't use a regular TH 400 slip yoke is that it will not have a centering ball for the CV.

The internal clip/Saginaw CV you're referring to is 1/2 ton rated and is, in my opinion, insufficient for front drivelines and an absolute joke to try to run in the rear.

 

[diesel4me]

Ohhhh....

That explains a lot!--I guess caddy drivshafts are only good for caddys then huh..Personally,I hate those CV joints,I used to make front shafts without them for my plow trucks,I never had a problem on my 71 GMC and Suburban 4x4 I eliminated them on...but I guess they are a nessasary evil on lifted 4x4's on the rear shaft in many cases...

 

[afroman006]

What about the front CV shaft from a 3/4 or 1 ton truck? Are they still 1310 too? I know the u-joint at the front axle pinion is 1310 but what about the CV?

 

[supersize75k5]

you need to have a centering ball in the cv to make it work. you can't just add one to the stock yoke for a 208, just like you can't add splines to the caddy CV yoke.


even the ones for the f350 superduty with the 1350 CV?

if you call up jessi he will tell you that you can snag a f-350 front shaft and send it to him, he can use the parts to build your shaft, I remember him saying it would save me a couple hundred bucks.. It s nice to see he is willing to help point people in the right direction to help them out

I went on the quest for a 2001 and up f-350 or 250 front shaft, I could only find one after being on the phone for an hour, the price was 125 bucks.

 

[Mudzer]

hey im moving up to a 10" lift from a 5". ive already bought everything and before putting it on, i dropped the tcase and got shims for the diff. i am gonna do a cv conversion but have few quick questions...

1. could i take the cv assembly off the front and put it on the rear?

2. is there an h joint and bearing you can buy and just put another u joint into and have it still fit into the stock np203 tcase?

You have a couple of options for the rear and not sure for the front, but I'll try. Rear, try to find yourself a Frod Bronco with the NP208 and fixed yoke. This had a 32 spline yoke, plus the 1330 CV setup, and slip yoke at the rearend. Have this shaft retubed to fit your current application. Align the rearend with the shaft or go with 2° negative rotated down from the shaft angle.

Up front, you could go with a 1030 CV and build your own increased angle CV. Only problem is, I am not sure what the spline count is on the front of the NP203. I would assume 30spl. If so, you can buy the CV style yoke (not flanged saginaw) and seal to match your NP203. Next, use the center ball pivot and "H" casting from a spicer 1330 CV joint coupled with the tube fitting for the 1310 CV (welded to the shaft) and yoke fitting along with 1310 to 1330 conversion joints and you have an instant increased angle shaft that should hold up to some abuse. This is a trick from the Okie Boys that wheel with 2.5 ton Rockwells in fullsize rigs, so it does take some abuse.

Remember guys, he said Homemade CV Joints.