Gettin' Shafted!

Locker/Locker Age : 34 Joined : 10 Jun 2007 Posts : 111

Due to my long wheelbase, My driveshaft hangs pretty low. With the hinged area moving around, raising the shaft and using a carrier was out of the question. The only way I saw to upgrade was to make one that is unbreakable. So, I did. The obvious choice was the ol' square tube shaft for lots of slip. I chose 2" seamless trailer hitch tubing. 4' of it. Heavy walled and flanges at each end. Then I used 2" outer dia. 1/4" walled tube for the inner piece overlapping as much as possible. I have about 14" of slip to play with. Then I welded some shim-stock on the two sloppy sides(hitch tube is not square inside), added grease fittings, welded the ends on, painted it up, and ready to roll! It's damn heavy but it wont break. I used the cheapest u-joints napa offered so I wouldnt blow the pinion or transfer shaft apart, put spares in the truck and we'll see what happens at Carlisle!

Subject: Re: Gettin' Shafted! Fri Jul 27, 2007 6:54 pm

only problem I see is vibration with higher speeds but seeing how it never sees the highway it sounds like a good solution. Let us know how it works.

Locker/Locker Age : 34 Joined : 10 Jun 2007 Posts : 111

Yeh, it never really gets above 15-20mph. Most times just crawlin'. Wouldn't want it on a street vehicle! Nice and straight though, probably could get it balanced if needed

Locker/Locker Age : 34 Joined : 10 Jun 2007 Posts : 111

Ok, I just took it out for a test run. Yes. SHAKEY,SHAKEY. Above 15mph it.s more of a rock tumbler than a rock crawler. Thats fine with me. Hittin' the rock garden at 15mph is a bad idea anyway. I'll keep the original shaft as a spare and for those times of sneakin' around the back roads to the local farms.

Subject: Re: Gettin' Shafted! Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:11 am

Sweet I was thinking of going square on my next project, I've been reading up on what you need.

Yers' sounds bulletproof

Subject: Re: Gettin' Shafted! Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:21 am

They say they're great for the trail cause you can do it yourself and make them strong. But like bill says they suck on the street. Yours looks cool and sounds beefy
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Subject: Re: Gettin' Shafted! Sat Jul 28, 2007 7:28 pm

I run a square shaft on mine after destroying the one I hads on the trail. Havn't had any probs and has been real tuff in the rocks. I havn't had to much probs with running it short trips on the street 40mph and below usaly.
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