drive shaft damage

I had a drive shaft cut down from an 02 ranger for my 64 falcon. After i installed it i took it for a test drive and heard a scraping sound so i pulled back in and now there is a scratch going around my drive shaft. I looked on line and can not find any limits on how deep one can be. So am i out of luck? Can it be blended out?

 

I think we need more info, where is this scratch and what do you mean how deep?

 

its go's around the shaft and i dont have a depth meter. Let me try and get a pic.

 

thats a groove not a scratch. what was it rubbing on?

 

I think you'll be OK - I wouldn't be afraid to run it.

 

The PO had a screw with a nut on it going threw the floor. Its gone now, but the damage is done.

 

Its like scoring a piece of tile ..Thats where It'll fail
If it were me Id drive easy and get another one in the works,Think of the carnage when one does fail

Tony

 

The thing i dont like is, i dont know how thick the tube is, then i could at least now the % of damage. I sucks being a Helo mec in the Navy i cant let anything go with out fear of failure.

 

im with you on this

 

unless you're north of 400horsepower with sticky tires, i wouldn't even worry about it.-rick



edit: if you use the car hard, and have a burly mill under the hood then take it to a truck shop and have it retubed to the same length (saves cash to reuse the ends)

 

Must have either been a very long screw, or your drive shaft is very very close to your floor.. how much clearance do you have?

 

drive shafts are unbelievably thin.When i made mine( was a 74 nova) It was about as thick as a exhaust pipe!!
But that doesn't look too bad so drive it till the wheels fall off.
JimV

 

I am building a 302 with a tunnel ram and was thinking of spraying it. I also have a 3.50 R&P with a Locker.

 

Its about 4" thick and not much clearance.

 

I think thats what i an gong to do, i just need to find another used one. I retubeing is 160 dollers just for the tube and about 100 for labor. I got the other shaft off craigslist for 50 bucks.

 

sounds like you want to play instead of pose, so i'd replace it. And get a ds safety loop. Remember the rules for safety loops are the minimums needed to keep it from chasing you around the cabin and then poking your competitor in the eye.

My point is that the minimum loop wont keep your car from getting torn the hell up. I run a forward loop and a rear loop.

 

i can't imagine a screw would leave a groove that deep. it may be OK , but that wouldn't give me a a warm and fuzzy feeling while i'm out driving. i say replace it

 

ya, im on the hunt for a ranger ex-cab truck to get one out of. ther go's anouther 150 down the drain.

 

I would imagine you could just cut it there and re-weld it, you'll just have your front slip-joint a little further out of the trans. Shouldn't even need to re-balance it.

 

If its not too deep it might be usable,my neighbors hauled the old roofing materials off their house in their ranger and a piece of a shingle got caught in between the cab and bed and cut the driveshaft in two. It was a aluminum driveshaft.

 

why not just TIG weld a bead around it or cut a piece of strip about 1" wide roll it & stitch weld it over the scrape?
Is it aluminum?
it should be ok to weld, but i wouldn't cut it & weld it.
One thing about driveshaft is that they don't go out of balance that EZ.The spinning mass is small so it can usually be "bench" balanced by putting a hose clamp or 2 on it & moving the screw part around till the vibration stops.
jimv

 

With the drivetrain you are putting together, i would either have it welded, or replace it all together. Most likely, replace it.
As was mentioned, that's a stress riser so IF a failure is going to happen, it's going to happen there..
Not worth "thinking" it will be ok in my opinion.
I've seen first hand on a friends Nova how bad the damage can be if a driveshaft lets go...it was BAD and an expensive fix.

 

do a couple holeshots, if it holds up, you're good to go

 

Dude, with a car that is OBVIOUSLY being built to be flogged hard, there is NO reason to do a hack job, hillbilly fix on something so important. I dont recall him mentioning that he was set up to structurally weld aluminum. There's a difference between saving cash and just patching trash together.

 

more of a weekend driver and driven hard. I will bring it to the shop that shortend it and see what thay say if it is to deep i will start over. I would hate to mess up my car over a 150 doller fix. I once dropped the drive shaft out of my 70 GTO on I275 in Tampa flopped around under the car at 80 MPH and took the exheust with it.

 

this is the car i am building.

 

Replace it! WHEN it comes apart, it's going to tear the shit out of your car! I lost a driveshaft on our sign truck at about 60mph one time, ruined four aluminum 48" underbody toolboxes, wood floor on flatbed, and front bearing in rearend. Plus it scared the shit out of everyone in a two mile radius! Tow bill and repairs were almost 3 grand for parts alone. Better safe than sorry! Nice ride by the way!

 

love the front wheels! i've been mulling them over in my head for my 61 Falcon gasser- nice to see a set installed.

Car looks real nice! I'd definitely replace the ds.

 

With the power you have planned I'd say replace it and save that one just in case you need it to get the car home sometime. It won't eat anything standing in the corner of the shed but if you loose a Ujoint or the "new" driveshaft it can always be ready to jump into service and get the car home.
I don't know where some of these guys get their automotive education but I was taught a long time ago that you don't weld a driveshaft in the middle or shorten it in the middle. Welding it there and sticking on a bandaid would just add to the chances it would fail have problems with vibration.
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