What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Square Tube Driveshafts

RECKLESS_TRENT

RECKLESS_TRENT

RECKLESS Photography
Joined
Jun 14, 2015
Posts
250
Reaction score
56
Location
Flint
Has anyone built or ran square tube driveshafts before? Any tips on building them? Fiance keeps breaking front driveshafts in his truck and is running out of spares. Hard to find any that will work for us because of how much travel it needs to have. So he is thinking about building a front square tube driveshaft. He had a buddy that built and ran them for yrs and never had any problems. Just wondering what other people think.
 
So and I have said this a hundred times on here. I do not like using receiver tube. I like using 2" .250 wall and 1.5 .188 wall. You have to grind a groove in the smaller tube for the weld bead but it doesn't rattle ever.

Also it's hard to get em straight. I have probably a 50% chance of making a decent one. If I had a lathe my chances would increase by a substantial margin.

Of course if I had a lathe I would just build a normal shaft.

What's breaking. Plenty of guys, crawlers and high speed, running big travel with round shafts made out of semi normal parts
 
I'd also like to hear some info on this as the slip in my driveshaft is getting very bad. Single or double cardan front shaft?
 
Has the th350 with a np208 tcase. Has a double cardian at the tcase. Have stripped the splines outta the yokes and shafts, broke the welds on the shafts, Countless cardian joint ball and sockets.

20140817_170427.jpg

20140817_170422.jpg
 
It might be time to put some money into driveshafts.

Square shafts are not indestructible. I have seen 4 or 5 just twist like they were licorice. Breaking the weld won't be solved with a square shaft either.

As far as CV stuff goes, square shafts are harder on those parts
 
Hard to drop a ton of money in a front driveshaft when the setup is constantly changing and the truck only has a few yrs left in it before retirement. Sounds like I need to just keep putting stock shafts that we can find in it? Would like to get rid of the cv but dont think we could get rid of it with the angle things are at
 
What's it gonna change too?

The yokes and the slip are the spendy part of the driveshaft. Tubing is cheap and easily changed.
 
blazinzuk said:
What's it gonna change too?

The yokes and the slip are the spendy part of the driveshaft. Tubing is cheap and easily changed.
Click to expand...

The front suspention is always being changed. Trying to get it to work better and hold up better for us
 
You need to post the pictures of him jumping it in the dunes, then people will have a better idea of why he is breaking them lol.
 
Get one made with spicer parts from tom woods for about 350 and be done with it. Sounds like you don't need more travel just a proper setup for length at your current travel. Time to upgrade yokes when you upgrade the driveline otherwise you will start breaking yokes instead of driveshafts.
 
Have bumpstops on it that we got from you Adam but we hit them and twisted the frame more. Just trying to make the truck last until we can get the K5 closer to being done. This is what the truck gets used for and how it gets drove, just like the name says. Have a hard time finding a driveshaft that wont bottom out or pull apart. Has a lot of travel for superlift 8in springs. A lot more than you would think.

Screenshot 2015-11-11 at 6.42.51 PM.png
 
sounds like you're only willing to invest in a bandaid so run a stock shaft and carry a spare.

I can't imagine a square shaft even being an option for anything other than a slow moving crawler.
 
To be honest, id say jumping the truck like this, without high dollar springs and shocks and bump stops, you are never going to stop breaking.

I think the reason why its not completely bent up, is because it is pretty well gutted and probably weighs a lot less than mine. I know if I jumped mine like that, it would not be a happy landing.
 
Deuling said:
To be honest, id say jumping the truck like this, without high dollar springs and shocks and bump stops, you are never going to stop breaking.

I think the reason why its not completely bent up, is because it is pretty well gutted and probably weighs a lot less than mine. I know if I jumped mine like that, it would not be a happy landing.
Click to expand...

What Adam said
 
Deuling said:
To be honest, id say jumping the truck like this, without high dollar springs and shocks and bump stops, you are never going to stop breaking.

I think the reason why its not completely bent up, is because it is pretty well gutted and probably weighs a lot less than mine. I know if I jumped mine like that, it would not be a happy landing.
Click to expand...

I dont think he is really trying to get it to stop breaking because his motto is that if its not broke to just drive harder. He is kinda using RECKLESS as a test dummy for the K5 build to see what works and what dont. Lately all he has been having reacouring problems with is the front driveshafts and passanger frame rail bending(didnt start until he really bent it a few yrs ago), and his drivers cab mount but thats because its an old rusted pile. Just trying to get a front driveshaft to last more than 2 trips to the dunes.
 
Sure that its not bottoming out when landing? Is it possibly extending too much when the tires leave the ground? If say there is only a little bit of slip still in the shaft, that could cause binding when it comes down hard.

Ive been running mine pretty hard for a while (definitely not like Trent drives though), and the only thing that blew was the cv spring let loose, but it was all original, and I had known for a long time it wasn't long for the world.

I blew up the cv on my first outing last summer. Rebuilt it during the week and ran it all summer.

Is he greasing the slip really well? I run a shock boot on the slip so sand doesn't get in the grease.
 
Deuling said:
Sure that its not bottoming out when landing? Is it possibly extending too much when the tires leave the ground? If say there is only a little bit of slip still in the shaft, that could cause binding when it comes down hard.

Ive been running mine pretty hard for a while (definitely not like Trent drives though), and the only thing that blew was the cv spring let loose, but it was all original, and I had known for a long time it wasn't long for the world.

I blew up the cv on my first outing last summer. Rebuilt it during the week and ran it all summer.

Is he greasing the slip really well? I run a shock boot on the slip so sand doesn't get in the grease.
Click to expand...

He greases the whole truck before every trip. He has had one that bottomed out before and it broke the ujoint. Then he has had one that was too short and it bound up and twisted the splines on the end. He has a good one in it right now that the ball and socket in the cv is just tore up. Didnt know that you could rebuild the cv on those? Where do you get parts for them and what all does it come with? Sounds like he should rebuild the one that he has in the truck now and it should last for awhile(I hope at least)

You drive yours pretty hard too Adam, beyond what the battery tray can handle lol
 
I ordered the neapco kit. Comes with spring, ball, and the little split washers to hold it in.

I'll see if I can find it tonight.

It was fairly easy and I had never done one before.
 
Deuling said:
I ordered the neapco kit. Comes with spring, ball, and the little split washers to hold it in.

I'll see if I can find it tonight.

It was fairly easy and I had never done one before.
Click to expand...

Sounds like thats what he needs to do for now. Its still together in the truck, he just said that it is growling at him bad and can feel it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom