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Opinion on off centered drivtrain.

Esteban86K5

Esteban86K5

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I am in the process of building a 2x5 rectangular frame for my Project Blazer. Anyway, I want to make the framerails a little closer than stock but run into the problem of the t-case not fitting between the rails when it's clocked up. Then a buddy mentioned setting the entire drivetrain in off centered by a couple of inches. Anyone have any opinion on this? Just wondering if there is something I may be overlooking and not thinking of. It would probably be about 2-4 inches to the drives side if I do it.

Any help or advice would be really helpfull.:bow:
 
im going to guess that you're married, and your wife generally rides shotgun. if that's the case, on average, you're probably roughly twice her weight. you might be able to pull it off if it were the other way around. not sure how driveline angles would work out, but the balance of the rig would be greatly compromised with that much weight offset to one side.
 
seems like that would make for some tense off camber moments, why dont you make the frame arch over the front output of the t-case if you are building a frame from scratch?
 
You mean arch Around the t-case? Well I wanted to avoid something like that. Still haven't decided what to do .:doah:
 
Chrysler did it for years and years with no ill effects.
Most full size vans have the drivetrain offset to the right, as well.

I think you'll be fine.
 
but were talking about a dedicated off road vehicle... you'd have to learn the vehicle wouldn't you... come down a hill bearing left, your fine, come down bearing right... your tipsy.. or am i over thinking it?
 
I think you're over-thinking it. I've seen more than one of the custom truggy manufacturers offset the drivetrain one way or the other to make room for fuel tanks, drivers, etc. Even so far as to offset the differentials to the same side.

If it doesn't bother hard-core rock crawlers, I don't see it being an issue.
 
You'll be fine. If you're really worried about it, put some stuff on the other side on purpose. Mount your fuel cell a little to the right, put the batteries on the right side, etc.
 
But ballist on the other side. Fill with water so that it all weights the same on both sides. Or why not make it right hand drive?
 
Water ballast?? You guys are thinking WAY too much into it. It's a truck, not a boat or an airplane. An extra 100 lbs here or there isn't going to make that much difference!
 
All pre 1971 CJ Jeeps that used a Dana 18 Case w/ the pass side rear output shaft had a 2-3" offset driveline (towards the driver side). And it was for the same purpose that you describe.... the framerails weren't wide enough to center the driveline. I had a 67 CJ5 for years... and I did think that the left/right weight bias was favored towards the driver. Problem was - they didn't offset it w/ any other weight on the Pass side. For example the gas tank was under the driver's seat.... :crazy:

For the drivetrain layout of the new "Marvzda" I threw convention to the wind and started w/ a heavy offset of weight towards the driver's side. I compensated for this by putting everything else that weighed anything towards the pass side (fuel tank, batteries, winch, etc).... I thought I might see some ill effects from it - but I have not...
619225_64_full.jpg

619225_58_full.jpg

So, I guess my advice would be to offset it as you like and then just try to compensate w/ batteries, gas tanks and such....

Marv
 
So Marv, have you had any problems with the ujoints? Cause now not only am I putting the u-joints to work verticaly, I am also putting them to work horizontally.
 
I think you will be more happy and do less work getting the t-case to fit if its a custom frame, than moving the entire drivetrain over. A well balanced or close to balanced rig is crutial because the rig will behave the same on all types of terrain, but if you have an off-centered rig by that much, there will be trails you may not be able to go on because your rig cant handle it with the weight on one side, and you will have to learn different techniques for different gradients.
 
Horizontal, vertical, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is total angle.
 
Esteban86K5 said:
So Marv, have you had any problems with the ujoints? Cause now not only am I putting the u-joints to work verticaly, I am also putting them to work horizontally.
Click to expand...

Esteban,

Funny that you mention this.... as Rob (therobzilla) and I had this conversation over a couple of beers in my garage when I was building this rig......

The answer is that the d-shaft doesn't know horizontal from vertical.... :confused: - it just knows resultant running angle. Now it is true that the resultant is a higher value for the same amount of lift once you factor in the horz angle too....

I have had one prob w/ mine.... I blew up the Saginaw CV because I over-angled it because my transfer case mounts came loose...:doah: But other than that it seems to work well up to ~ 50 mph.... Why not past 50 mph?... Ask anyone who's seen me flog the squirrels -
[scotty voice]That's all she's got, Captain [/scotty voice]:haha:

Marv
 
Well I just mocked up the t-case between the frame rails to get an accurate number. And with the framerails at a width of 29" on the outside. It will put the t-case at only 1 3/4 inches from center. I really don't think that will be a problem at all. :thumb:

A normal frame is 28" through the engine compartment and then flares out to 33.5" in the middle. Just for a comparison.
 
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