Measuring a driveshaft.

[hoffmandirt]

Hey guys, I had a driveshaft made that i had some guy measure for me. Then i realized my leaf springs were on backwards. : ) So now i need to get it cut down and im not sure how much i need to get cut out and where to measure from. The driveshaft barely fits but there is no play in the slip yoke. How much play do I need and how can i determine how much of the shaft i need to cut out? Thanks

[adh383]

If you put the shaft in the tranny---can you slide it back to the rearend and bolt it up?

[hoffmandirt]

no, it wont fit unless i loosen the rear end from the springs, and then there is no play in the yoke.

[adh383]

So you are saying that the yoke is all the way in the tranny as far as it will go? How far do you think the rearend has to move back to allow you to bolt it up?

[Knanthrup]

You\'re going to want a good inch or so. I went through this same process a few times. What you want to do is jack the rear end up so it\'s loaded (jack under pumpkin) because with weight on the rear it changes the geometry. Once you have her up, pull the driveshaft out since it\'s a tight fit. Then, just slide in the tranny side slip yoke, slide it in all the way, they pull it out one inch. Lightly bolt the rear u-joint clamps back on. Now what you want to do is measure from the center of the front u-joint (center of the roller bearing cap on the side) to the center of the round hole that the u-joint clamp is making on the rear yoke. So basically you\'re measuring to where it would be. That will tell you how long you want it. Just subtract that measurement from the measurement from u-joint to u-joint of your current shaft and thats how much it needs to be shortened.



I hope that makes sense to you. I will try to sketch up a crappy little paintshop thing to illustrate it

[hoffmandirt]

Yeah that makes sense. So then when ever I figure out the would be measurement, I take the measurement of my current driveshaft from the same points and subtract. Then i just go to the driveshaft shop and tell them how much i need cut out.

[Knanthrup]

Here\'s a picture, hope it helps give you the right idea



<hr width='200'><img src='images/jpg.gif'>: <a href="http://24.16.249.197/driveshaft.gif" BORDER="0" target=_blank><font size="-2">image will open in new window</font></a><hr width='200'>

[Knanthrup]

On 2006-02-11 13:07, hoffmandirt wrote:

Yeah that makes sense. So then when ever I figure out the would be measurement, I take the measurement of my current driveshaft from the same points and subtract. Then i just go to the driveshaft shop and tell them how much i need cut out.



yep you got it

[hoffmandirt]

Perfect thanks man

[adh383]

Good work Knanthrup=== wish i had those puter skills.