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square driveshafts

85gmcOD

85gmcOD

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greentown, pa
i need to make up a driveshaft for the front and rear of my truck... any hints on what to do? thought the the square tubing would give me more leway with the flexing of the truck.. if u understand what i mean.. i have a longbed wit a 208.. i dont wanna get a drivhaft made yet because i intend on gettin a 205 put in.. just thougt square tubing would be easier and cheeper.. the truck will only be trail driven..
 
85gmcOD said:
i need to make up a driveshaft for the front and rear of my truck... any hints on what to do? thought the the square tubing would give me more leway with the flexing of the truck.. if u understand what i mean.. i have a longbed wit a 208.. i dont wanna get a drivhaft made yet because i intend on gettin a 205 put in.. just thougt square tubing would be easier and cheeper.. the truck will only be trail driven..
Click to expand...

I made a square tube for my front. It weighs a ton. lots of slip though. I couldn't imagine making one for the rear. It would weigh 100 lbs.

the pics are from when I was fine tuning the length. I painted it after I cut it for more compression.

my local driveshaft shop has lengthened stock shafts for me. the rear they made for $90. they put 1350 joints on both ends and a jump joint from the slip yoke to the shaft instead of the shaft to the axle. basically they gave me my slip yoke back with a completely new shaft and joints. they lengthened a front for $60.

square tube0001.JPG

square tube0002.JPG

square tube0003.JPG
 
They are cheaper up front, however, they can and I've seen it first hand a few times where they did take the transmission out when the front end came up and back and the drive shaft wouldn't slip. Just bind.

That being said, there are a few guys running them on here and swear by them.
 
mine was a lot more labor intensive to make. I did not use square tube for the larger part. I started with flat steel and sheared and bent 2 L's. used banding for shims and tacked everything together. pulled the inner out and took the banding off. basically the larger shaft is made to only work with the inner shaft. completely smooth on the inside. it also lines up only one way. If i pull it apart and try to put it back together out of phase its too tight.

the problems with square tubes is that the cheaper stuff has a seam welded inside. and it's not dimensionally perfect. it's real close, and works fine for trailer hitches. If you are going to drive on the street or see any kind of speed then a real shaft is worth the money.

my truck is trailered and only gets into 2nd gear when I am in low range. and if I blow the back of my 208 off then I have an excuse to finally put in the 205 I have. maybe it will even take out the back of my 700, it's the only thing still original to my truck besides the frame.
 
85gmcOD said:
whats a jump joint... and how heavy is to heavy for a driveshaft
Click to expand...

I call it a jump joint. should call it a conversion joint. it jumps from 1310 to 1350. You don't want something so heavy you can't pick it up.:D

seriously though it's a lot of rotating mass.
 
My front shaft weighs 85 lbs. It's too heavy! when you can't put them on by yourself they are too heavy!:haha:
 
gotcha... i have my pinion angle all lined up so all i need is to find the measurements and with 8 inches of lift and a shckel flip will i need a longer slip yoke
 
cybrfire said:
My front shaft weighs 85 lbs. It's too heavy! when you can't put them on by yourself they are too heavy!:haha:
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No way your front shaft is 85lbs, my rear is 45-50" long and weighs prolly 45-50lbs.

As for the square shafts. Make sure there is zero binding when your grind the notch. If there is any other binding in the shaft grind it down with a flapper wheel NOT a grinding wheel since they leave rough marks that will cathc the inner tube.
Also radius all the edges on both the inner and outer tube.

If built right you will not break a square shaft or anyother part of the drivetrain.

I have slammed down onto mine with the whole weight of the truck hitting 3rd gear and they just laugh and ask for more.

Ow and I am one of the guys who swears by them:D
 
I paid the big money (actually, a friend who felt he owed me a favor paid the big money) for 18" of reciever tubing. the stuff is about $20/ft, because theres no seam inside. That, plus whatever length of 2" square tube you need, and you have a driveshaft.
 
cybrfire said:
My front shaft weighs 85 lbs. It's too heavy! when you can't put them on by yourself they are too heavy!:haha:
Click to expand...

now I have to weigh mine. it's at least 50+ nice thing about a square tube is you can put it in in pieces. I bolt the top half to the t-case then slide the bottom on. can't imagine being under the truck with both parts and trying to line up the bolts in the flange.
 
85mudblazin said:
No way your front shaft is 85lbs, my rear is 45-50" long and weighs prolly 45-50lbs.
Click to expand...

Actually my front shaft is longer than that. It's also made from 2.5" x .3125 wall dom tubing. It has 18" of slip or so. It's flippin heavy!
 
My square front weighs in at about 28lbs. I used 2.5" reciever tube($50 for 5ft at northern tool) and plain 2". Both are 1/4" thick.
 
cybrfire said:
They are cheaper up front, however, they can and I've seen it first hand a few times where they did take the transmission out when the front end came up and back and the drive shaft wouldn't slip. Just bind.

That being said, there are a few guys running them on here and swear by them.
Click to expand...

This is the reason I decided not to go this route, maybe a spare but thats it.
 
I know receiver tube is easy and all but it will make the driveshaft alot looser and make alot of noise/vibrate. It is actually made a hair bigger so that its easier to slide in the actual receiver.
I have maybe 1/16" of play in my shafts, they make zero noise, and are smooth up until 35mph. Not bad for a chop saw and eyeballing the yokes for straightness.
 
85mudblazin said:
No way your front shaft is 85lbs, my rear is 45-50" long and weighs prolly 45-50lbs.

As for the square shafts. Make sure there is zero binding when your grind the notch. If there is any other binding in the shaft grind it down with a flapper wheel NOT a grinding wheel since they leave rough marks that will cathc the inner tube.
Also radius all the edges on both the inner and outer tube.

If built right you will not break a square shaft or anyother part of the drivetrain.

I have slammed down onto mine with the whole weight of the truck hitting 3rd gear and they just laugh and ask for more.

Ow and I am one of the guys who swears by them:D
Click to expand...


whats the size of the wall thickness and tubing sive u used????
 
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