CV shaft as a driveshaft? Can it be done?

The other day I was looking at my t bucket project, and thought to myself, a CV shaft for the driveshaft might be really a slick setup. I know its not tradional, but would it work? has anyone done it?

Jordan

 

I don't know about that, I never considered it. But here's a possibility for you, a C4 Corvette drive shaft. They're all aluminum, around 28" long (give or take) from U-joint center to center. There are two versions and the only difference is that the manual shift cars had a shaft about 1" shorter and used a different tranny yoke. I've got an automatic one in the garage if you need an exact measurement. Of course they could be easily shortened if needed for a specific application. The automatic ones especially are available cheap used. This is because many with automatic C4s (like me ) have swapped in the heavier duty D44 rear end from a manual car. This requires using the slightly shorter shaft from a manual car too.

 

yeah, I would need to shorten it down to about a 13" length. is there enough length to do that on one of those corvette driveshafts?

Thanks!
Jordan

 

Ford uses a cv joint on the new mustang drive shafts.

 

Gee, I don't know. Just how much length is required to shorten something?

 

CV Front driveshafts in 4X4's are common
The Ford Exploder if I remember, some had a u-joint in front and a CV to the Xfer Case.

 

Some drive shafts have a rubber dampner in them, about 6"-8" from each end. Makes shortening them a bitch. Gene

 

Ford Bronco IIs use CV joint driveshafts, at least in the late 80s.

 

My 64 caddy I drive every day has 2 of them in the shaft.

 

Alright, another Douchebag contributing nothing to a thread, but a smartass comment!

To help with the question posed. Off roaders use this method quite often for their high misalignment benefits.

 

A CV joint like the ones used for FWD and IRS RWD axles could certainly handle the power, but there may be a problem with the those type of boots when you spin them that fast. When you use one attached directly to a wheel as an axle, it's only turning 700-1000 rpm at cruise, depending on tire size, but as a driveshaft it could be spinning four times as fast. There may be a difference in boot design between the axle and the driveshaft applications.

 

Ya all fergot one real strong shaft.
Olds Tornanado. Tommy IVO already gave them the torture test!
D

 

My '55 Plymouth(and most other early Mopars) use Ball and Trunion style U-joints, which are basically a simpler form of CV joint.