Technical Drive shaft

I got a call from a old friend last night and he was looking for a driveshaft, it seems his supply has dried up, he had priced having one custom made but didn't want to spend the money having someone else do what he has always done, he prefers to cut a old driveshaft down to fit.

Being a pack rat I have bought several cars in the past to get engines,transmissions and rear axles, I always kept parts I think I might need in the future and drive shafts are one of those pieces along with the yoke.

When he shows up this afternoon he can pick one out and cut it to fit, do any of you guys still use older drive shafts? HRP

 

We keep a pile of them, mainly as cores to use the ends and the yolks. Still send them to a shop to have a new tube made and then balanced. Our pile though has been getting smaller as we have been doing 67-72 C10's and converting them from 2 piece setups to 1 piece.

 

I bought my last one from a fellow that wrecks mostly P-71's. He must have had 10-15 driveshafts to choose from. There Alcoa aluminum, 3.5 diameter, 1350 u-joints front and rear, balanced to 140 mph.
They have a painted stamp on them that says "police" and "discard if dropped". For $50 I'd say it's a pretty good deal.

 

I use to use them but when the junk yards disappeared so did the used supply. My last build I bought made to order.

 

I usually kept a few, but only have one left. It will be cutdown for my 32 build.

 

I was watching one of those restore TV programs the other night and cringed when I seen this guy clamp the driveshaft tube in the vice and proceed to beat the U joint out.
Oh, and yes I run cut down used driveshafts.

 

My supply is also rather low right now, I've had a few made new recently....$300 a pop vs $100ish these days to get one shortened. Used to be I'd get them cut for $20, but I'm getting old, too.

 

Anymore I just use these guys. https://www.actionmachineinc.com/
I know one of the owners( no discount!) He lives about a mile from me so i get personal service.

 

I've been cutting them down for years and then truing them up in our 9' lathe before welding them. But they're getting harder to find as many manufacturers went to a "bottle neck" design in the 70s that don't work as well to shorten in the process we use. I've watched my grandfather and uncle build dozens of driveshafts over the years and we've never had one balanced and never had an issue. Just make sure you line up the yokes and having the big lathe to get them true makes a big difference.

 

Don't keep them too long, those yolks will rot.

 

I also used Action Machine for a new driveshaft. I read some engineering stuff that I got from a friend and I realized the used shaft I had shortened was not even close to meeting the rpm and torque requirements that I might need. The guy at Action agreed.

 

I have three left, and at 76, I can't see using them all.
Bob

 

I use what I can find and have a large stack of them. I collected them years ago, I was able to use some rear drive shafts to to replace the spindly front 4x4 drive shafts in pickups, with no machining.
I always had my driveshafts modified at our local machine shop. But had a friend that would cut and weld his driveshafts right in his shop. Neve seemed to have any trouble.,








Bones

 

Smooth as a gravy sandwich? that's a new one on me. HRP

 

I have a few leftover and several short ones from different engine/trans I ran an moved on. Always cut down stick shafts.

 

I used to dig through the huge pile at the junkyard to find the one of the correct length with the right size cups, no need to spend money shortening them.
Cost was $20 to $25 twenty years ago.

 

I used ones and have them cut, but the last one cost me 170$ to short and balanced with new joints

 

Mine for my ‘57 Chevy Sedan was made by SouthWest Speed. Seems nice, not run yet.

 

I don’t usually use old ones anymore. I use 2 local places that do really well for a good price and I’ve used Denny’s in the past too. I had this happen behind a 286 Flatty once.

 

I bought a 3 " big sucker NASCAR steel driveshaft for 50.O0 bucks..Got a couple GM shafts hanging around...

 

I have a pile of junk to choose from , usually keep a few on hand . I have one to share with all of you . I had a 70 Torino Cobra , 429 SCJ Drag Pack, 4 speed , car years ago . The drive shaft was 3 pieces , as in the yoke ends were pressed in to the main tube in rubber . How in the hell did that work and not twist the yokes out of phase or just sit and spin the yoke in the tube . I ran that 4000 lb vessel rather hard all day long . When you banged a gear , the ash tray would fly out and it felt like you just got rear ended by a loaded dump truck .

 

Cadillacs had a damper built into them....driveshafts make great side pipes ..here's set I built

 

Use the old one's for fence posts..........

 

For those who like to shorten their own, and are looking for longer ones to start with, some 1973 longbed C10's had a one piece driveshaft when equipped with a TH350.

 

I’ve still got a few short ones, but no long ones. No yards left close to me anymore either, and pull a part has mostly fwd junk. I actually had to lengthen the one in the Lincoln when I swapped it to Ford power train, had one that slipped down into the other just right, welded it up. Going to try it and see how it works, if it vibrates I guess I’ll have to order one online somewhere, no driveshaft shops around anymore either.

 

Sounds familiar. The shaft in Clarence was $15 in 1992. Had to spend a couple of hours going through a pile at a boneyard. I had planned to go back to that same place when the Model A is ready for a shaft. Unfortunately the owner of that yard died last year and everything got sent to the crusher. I don't have a source any more. I'll be up a creek unless I find another source. OR I'll have to shell our the ca$h to have one built.

 

I stopped in at one new to me junkyard back when I was looking to dig through a driveshaft pile.
I asked the man how much the driveshafts were, and he answered, "Depends which one, they're around $25 to $75."
So I immediately answered, "How much is one that's 57 inches long with Ford small U-joints?"

Not surprisingly, he wouldn't give me a price other than "Dig one out and we'll see.". I said that was ridiculous and left.

 

Who won? You or him?










Bones

 

I guess we both lost, he didn't make a sale and I didn't buy anything.
But at least I didn't waste a pile of time to be told that the crusty old driveshaft I found just happened to be the expensive one.

I got a shaft at a different yard shortly after, for $25. It did involve a bit of sorting through a pile of driveshafts, and bushwhacking, but was a straightforward, pleasant financial transaction.