Getting ready to have a new drive shaft built and I want to be sure I get it right. I have always been told to push the yoke in the tranny till it bottomed out and then pull it out 1 3/4" and measure cntr to cntr yokes to get the measurement and have never had a problem. Does this still hold true. It's a C4 tranny if that should make a difference.
Same here. I have installed upwards of 60 custom drive shafts this way. Zero issues. I would never do one at 1-3/4".
I haven't installed anywhere near 60 but I would guess I have done at least 20 since I started building hot rod's and I always figure 1-" to 1-1/4" between the yoke and the transmission. I have seen a friends Mustang launch so hard the yoke was pulled out of the transmission,on close inspection it was determined there was less than a 2" of the yoke in the transmission. Fortunately,it didn't dig in the asphalt but it did get caught in the emergency brake cable and wrapped it so tight it locked up the brakes. HRP
With the coils removed, and sitting on the bump-stops, this vehicle compressed its front driveshaft 7/8" from ride height. It had slip splines in the driveshaft, but you get the idea. If you have a street vehicle that needs 1-3/4" of compression, something is very wrong.
If you build it right, it does not break. I drove that rig like that from 88K to 267K miles, with about 40K+ miles hard off-road. From Mexico to Moab, Rubicon to Bald Mountain.. It was only ever on a trailer when I had an ignition coil failure, and my spare turned up bad, too. The same ethos applies to the street-going vehicles that I build. All drivers, anywhere, anytime.
The Jalopy Journal
