On my last trip to the con, I saw alot of people running square front driveshafts. I can see the obvious advantages to such a set-up (price, and extreme travel) , but how long do they hold up. Are they worth running?

i have no idea on the longevity of them nor have i seen them on anything but 4 cylinder toy trucks. i personally will never run one just because i want to haul ass in teh sand snow when i can. and when ever i do snag a line ona rock it will still spin somewhat smoothly creating the candy strip effect where as a square shaft will clunk and funk your junk to oblivion. like the old saying goes, "dont' be a square" lol, jiMMy

I built a square shaft for my daughter's Scout as a temp fix and it's held it's own under a heavy vehicle with a fair amount of HP. I agree with the others in that for general use, a balanced shaft is prefered :)

I have one on mine and it will be there for along time. I also carry a spare. I can go as fast as I want with no problems.
I love mine.

Originally posted by overeasy
I have one on mine and it will be there for along time. I also carry a spare. I can go as fast as I want with no problems.
I love mine. not so much as fast as u want but as fast as 4 cylinders will go before, :nuke: jiMMy

I am going to build one for my rig.If you use thick wall tubing you should never bend it.One advantage I think would be if your diff is against a rock and the shaft is sitting on another it will bounce and could help push the diff over.I wouldn't run one on the back at highway speed but for trail use should be fine.

i run one in the front and love it! it will take a bashing and ask for more. cheap and easy to build. i never have the need to run high speeds in 4wd so i have not had a problem with it. i run a vortec 350 and 42's and they hold up beautifully

I don't see why a square driveshaft couldn't be run at high speed, just get it balanced. Some tractor equipment use square pto shafts that spin at high speed, at least 3k rpms. I know our pasture clipper has a square shaft on it because I blew the yoke apart on it when I got the clipper in a bind one day & welded the new yoke on. The square tubing was fine but now the shaft vibrates a little, it got welded a little crooked.

I am runnin a square shaft in the front. I love it. I built it mostly for the cost. I used receiver hitch material. It does vibrate at high speeds (15mph), but I have a good cure for the problem. The size differance it the tubing (ID & OD) is about 1/16+. So I went to my local tap plastics and purchased four thin strips of some high strength plastic. They measure 1/64 inch each. I glued them to each side of my inside shaft and added a s%#* load of grease to it. It fit very snug at firsts but as I"ve been using the shaft it slips easier that a standaed slip shaft. It takes alot of abuse.

i run square on the front and the rear. cheap, easy to make and tough, once your learn how to weld cast. the balance issue with high speed i can understand. my front will rattle your filling out of your teeth if i try to drive at high speed in 4wd. my ride is just a trail vehicle.:usa:

I built one for my rig. I will also be building a second one for the front. I just want to get my junk rolling for now. I will worry about the smoothness later.

Originally posted by high5
i run one in the front and love it! it will take a bashing and ask for more. cheap and easy to build. i never have the need to run high speeds in 4wd so i have not had a problem with it. i run a vortec 350 and 42's and they hold up beautifully

I thought you drove a mud truck?

I have made a few (3) and hated them all
people want them, thats fine with me. I don;t like
I have lost that little 1 OZ weight on a front shaft before, and it shook the shit out of me.
Buy a good shaft and be done

Originally posted by SJ410Bark
I can see the obvious advantages to such a set-up?No kidding. Ever try to dent reciever tubing?

how much are long slip HD drivelines?:confused:

Square driveshafts dont' do any favors for pinion bearings or t-case output bearings.

They are cheap and tough though and holdup fine. They can wear out other things which is the problem with running them on anything but a total trailrig that doesn't see anything but slow speed trails (i.e. rock crawling)

Long slip HD drivelines are spendy...you're looking at $300 to $400

Originally posted by peeJ
how much are long slip HD drivelines?:confused:

Depends.. the longest full spline stub for 2 inch .120 tubing at 16 spline 1 3/8 inch is around 6 5/8, while the slip yoke is around 7ish.. you get about 3 inches of compression and 3 inches of droop, before it either pulls out of fully compresses.. Granted thats more than enough for most people, and you can design it around your suspension if you have more drop that compression.

The longest extreme travel has a stub of 23 inches long, and rode about 7 inches of spline showing.. so that means. 16 inches drop, 7 compression.. way more than you will ever need no matter what, but most can not be run in the rear at high speeds due to no glid coat.

Driveline service of stockton/fresno, has a long travel, high angle (max at 52*) and it can be ran in the rear of the vehicle, it is fully balanceable. The slip can be made to any length that you need. from 6 inches to 30..

The cv joints are comparable to 1410 u joints, but no one at this moment makes a 1410cv.

If you want any more info PM me and i will be glad to send you in the right direction..

*the fine line*
i do not work for driveline service so i am not trying to promote their product. Im just letting you know what's out there, and if you need something with high angle, long slip, and balanceable.. you know where to go

I don't know what you guys are talking about not being able to haul ass cause last weekend we drove home from the hammers in front wheel drive only with the square drive line at 60-70 mph and it did fine. I've run square drive lines for 2 years now with no problems on pinion bearings or whatever. But whatever, just make it strong whether you go round or square and never look back!

Originally posted by SwampTJ
Some tractor equipment use square pto shafts that spin at high speed, at least 3k rpms.


Tractor pto only turns at 540 and 1000 rpm, with 540 being the most common. None turn 3k

Doh I knew that, I was thinkin of the engine RPMs. :rasta: Not even a haycutter would spin a couple thousand rpms? So how many RPMs would a driveshaft spin going 60 mph, would it depend on the gearing?

Originally posted by SwampTJ
So how many RPMs would a driveshaft spin going 60 mph, would it depend on the gearing?
Beween 2100 and 2150rpm. Tire size and gear ratios don't affect driveshaft speed.:D :D :D

On a more serious note:
Get yer rig up to 60 mph in 1:1 gear. (4 in a 5 speed/ 4 in a 4 speed/ D in a OD/Ect.)
Engine = driveshaft speed
The higher your gears and the bigger yur tires the less rev. needed to go 60mph.
The lower your gears and smaller yur tires, the more rev. needed to go 60mph.
So it all depends on your set-up.