Pirate 4x4 banner

Square driveshaft ? (even after doing search)

201K views 212 replies 108 participants last post by  81 shortbed 
#1 ·
Yes I did a search and that is why I'm going to build a square shaft tomarrow. My question is: when you make a square front driveshaft is it better for the diff end to slide back into the TC end or vice versa? Or does it even matter? I'm thinking of making the diff end slide into the larger TC end. The one pic I found of a square driveshaft had a boot over it so it wasn't clear how they(4rnrrick) did it. Also where do you get a boot that size? Shock boots are definately too small. I'd like the boot to keep shit from getting up in the slip area of the shaft and causing too much friction.
 
#2 ·
It really doesnt matter which way it slips in. Its going to be the strongest driveline you can get, so if it rubs and scrapes the rocks it wont do any serious damage. It might scar it up, but itll smooth itself from it sliding in and out. So if your worried about that then make the diff side the female end.

Dont even bother using 83 and under yoke, get yourself a late model yoke and a SOLID axle CV. So use a CV off a 83, and a yoke off a ifs. Reason being is you will blow the 83 yoke cuz it doesnt have the clearance, and the 83 CV has more angle than the late models.

And ditch the boot, and grease it once. there are not splines to protect.
 
#3 ·
My truck is an 85- so I should use the CV off mine and yokes off of an IFS truck. You said the 83 and earlier yokes lack the clearance and IFS yokes are OK so how about an 85 yoke. I've also got three extra rear shafts- one from an 85 and two from an 88, if my 85 yokes lack the clearance can I use the rear shaft yoke off the 88's? Most of the posts from the search I did recomended not using the CV and just using U-joints. What kind of setup did you use?
 
#7 ·
Well I run triples with a Bud Xmember, right Bud?? :D

So I have less of a angle to my d/lines. But before I had triples, I ran a square driveline. I went through 3 of em before I figured out that the late model YOKES along with the EARLY model CVs were the ticket.

Lke I said before, use the yoke off a 84 and up, and a CV off a 83 and under. Clear as mud?????

Bud, Im tryin to cream your Xmember, but all I can do is scratch it!! :flipoff2:
 
#8 ·
Heres the answers for you:

Put the little tube on the axle so if water or crap gets into the joint it will drain out. Also make sure to cap the smaller tube with a piece of metal so it won't fill up with crap. I also welded the grease holes shut for the slip yoke.

I bought the boot from SeaBass44. He got it from his old Satellite business. the boot worked great untill I hit my first rock. Now the boot is toast. I think if you put the tube together the right way you won't need a boot. Heck I'm the only person that I 've seen with a boot.

Also I'm running Std U-joints on both ends. It works just fine. This means you will have to redrill the front transfercase flange. What this allows you to do is swap the d-shaft to the rear if you need to. I just toasted my rear d-line and a birf so I had to swap d-lines to get home. It worked out GREAT. even with the square out back, I was able to drive 40 mph without vibs.
 
#10 ·
Well thanks for the replys! Time for me to get off my ass an go make the thing. I'll try mocking it up with both my old CV and with just flanges and see which LOOKS;) :flipoff2: better. I may just use my 85 CV for now until I can get to a yard for a Late model CV. It seems I might have more angle on the front shaft than most since I'm only running a single 4.7 case.
 
#11 ·
Well I've been running the early model flanges and I have never broken one in the entire time I have had it. But Jon is right the later model yokes allow more flexation of the drive line. Also make sure you get as much engagement of the two box shafts as you can to minimize the rattle.
 
#14 ·
I agree with Scott, just use a reg U Joint unless you've only got CV's laying around. If you've got dual cases make sure the 2.5" is long enough to double as a spare for your rear shaft too. Depending on your xmember setup if you have dual cases you may need the smaller tube at the top for clearance.
 
#18 ·
Yep, that's a Jesse special Dana 44 'yoke' that allows you to bolt the Toyota driveshaft right up to it. No more little 'U' bolts to break or come loose... Got one on my 9" too. Don't know why one is square and the other is round but they look pretty solid so I'm not complaining. The front square one matches my square d-line too.. :D:D

 
#20 ·
Thanks for all the help, I just finished building the shaft. I didn't feel like redrilling my transfer case flange so I just reused the CV from my old shaft. I ended up welding the larger tube to the transfer case end just because doing it that way required less grinding on the yoke to slip the tube over. I welded the piss out of it and got it as straight as I could. It has about 14" of overlap which I would think is enough. I also coated the inner shaft with a real heavy grease to allow it to slide easier. I took it out for a drive and could get it to about 20 mph before I started getting vibes. Thanks again for the help.
 
#21 ·
I can drive about 45 mph without vibs with my front square shaft. :) You might be able to shim each side of the inner tube by welding on 24 ga metal to it and then grinding th eweld smooth. Thats what I did. my first shaft with no shim I could drive about 35mph and then after adding the shims it went up to 45 mph. Its nice to be able to drive spur roads between trails without having to go real slow or stopping to unlock the hubs.


I put the zerks around the large tube. One per side and I staggered them by about 9" or so for the grease to fill the whole length of the sliding part of the joint.
 
#22 ·
Fun in squareville

Hey all, I'm planning on doing the square driveshaft thing, and I cannot see why the heck it would get more vibrations than a normal shaft?? Why not take it to get balanced?? Y'know, professionally. :confused: I am certain there are many shops out there that could balance a square shaft as long as you have the u-joint knuckle thingys (ooo yeah, technical) centered and square to the shaft.

That being said, what are the best u joints out there?? I want to run about a 3 to 3.5" u joint, so what truck could I pull the knuckles off of to make it work??

Oh, yes, and has anyone ever made their OWN u joint knuckles?? :D That would be cool. Disaster, but cool. :nuke:
 
#23 ·
Take a square shaft into a driveline shop and ask them to balance it. Be sure to tell us what they said :D A square shaft won't balance because there is a massive amount of slop in it compared to a regular driveshaft. It is not the snug, vibration-free joint that a standard slip-yoke has thus the geometry of the driveshaft is constantly changing.
 
#24 ·
Heres is my set-up
 

Attachments

#25 ·
Don't hassle me about the u-bolts, they've been shortened!
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top