Building a drive shaft at home . Yes you can

[Grandman]

This thread is building a drive shaft at home , its not that hard to do . The method you see here is how i learned to do this . Im sure there is better ways and if you have the tools thats great . The average wheeler does not have a lath and so on . I have wheeled many of these home built shafts with no issues including the V8 powered Grand .

First order of business is to get the approx. lenght you will need . I installed the old shaft and measured about how much longer it needed to be . Added 2" to that to be sure the tube was plenty long when ordered .

Next is to measure the size of the tube . This one happens to be 2.5 inch tubing but you need to know the thickness as well . 2.5 drive shaft tubes will come in different thickness so this is required . Cut the shaft use a mic and get the thickness before you try to order . dont have a mic , take it to the metal place and they will measure it for you before they order the tube .

Shaft end cut to get thickness .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/tubethickness.jpg

Heres the start pile .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/Newandoldtubes.jpg

Next you need to get the ends out of the old tube , if your good with a torch cut the welds off , if not stick to a grinder and cut the old welds and tubing off the ends .

Ready to go in the new tube .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/shaftends.jpg


Before putting one of the ends in make sure the tubing is cut square .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/squaredtubing.jpg

When you put the first end in measure both sides from the tube to the end to be sure it is square in the tube . They dont just slide in , warm the tube up and run cold water over the end parts to help put them together .

Make sure you are even from one side to the other .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/measurefor1stend.jpg

When it is squared into the tubing tac weld it in 3 or 4 spots .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/Tacweld.jpg

Then you can finish the weld with out the heat drawing it out of square .

Next put the shaft in the T case , hold it up to the rear and measure for final cut . Make sure you are leaving room for the shaft to move during articulation .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/measurebackend.jpg

If you dont have a chop saw find one , borrow one or find a way to make a square cut on the tubing , dont use a hack saw .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/chopsaw.jpg

When you put the other end in make sure the two ends are alligined properly . If not the ujoints will cause a bad vibration .

Measure from end to end once again to make sure both ends are squared in properly before welding .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/measureshaftforsquare.jpg

You will have to beat the ends in , make sure you hit like the photo , dont hit where the ujoint caps go in .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/Hammering.jpg

Weld it up and you have a drive shaft that should serve you fine .

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/finished.jpg

I have never had a balance issue with a shaft made this way , no u joint issues or breakage . I wouldnt recommend this for a ride that sees a lot of highway useage but for the average wheeler it should be fine .

[Blackjackbender]

great write up. have done them like that before.

[drummond]

So because it does not look like this driveshaft extends and collapses, will this cause any issues? This seems like a great idea, and something i could do. I have never built my own driveshaft, but the ones that I have, have a slip "joint" type thing in the middle, that allows the shaft to travel, up and down. Is this necessary? Or is it different due to the driveshaft that slides into the t-case, rather having a fixed upper u-joint attachment on the yoke of the t-case?

[Captain Ledd]

I'm curious, I will be building my own front driveshaft (had the rear one professionally done). I have 2 XJ front Shafts already that while fit u-joint wise, both are slightly too short. Is there any reason against cutting the tube somewhere in the middle and joining the two together to make one longer one? Every one I've seen has had the welds on the u-joint thingy cut/ground out. Like here:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/shaftends.jpg

is it a strength issue? or maybe a ballance issue?

[Captain Ledd]

So because it does not look like this driveshaft extends and collapses, will this cause any issues? This seems like a great idea, and something i could do. I have never built my own driveshaft, but the ones that I have, have a slip "joint" type thing in the middle, that allows the shaft to travel, up and down. Is this necessary? Or is it different due to the driveshaft that slides into the t-case, rather having a fixed upper u-joint attachment on the yoke of the t-case?

The thingy on the Left slips in and out of the transfer case. Much like what you have, only in a different spot. Some say it's weaker, I have no idea for sure, it probably depends on the case style/strength more than the location/style of the slip yoke.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/grandman_02/measureshaftforsquare.jpg

[drummond]

Thats what I thought

[Blackjackbender]

So because it does not look like this driveshaft extends and collapses, will this cause any issues? This seems like a great idea, and something i could do. I have never built my own driveshaft, but the ones that I have, have a slip "joint" type thing in the middle, that allows the shaft to travel, up and down. Is this necessary? Or is it different due to the driveshaft that slides into the t-case, rather having a fixed upper u-joint attachment on the yoke of the t-case?

same procedure.

the slip is in the transfercase. it has a splined output which the t-case yoke slides on to give the driveshaft its slip. this is know as a "slip yoke"

a driveshaft with a fixed yoke the slip is in the driveshaft obviously. when lengthing one of those you will want to measure full droop and full compression to figure out ur max driveshaft length and min driveshaft length. if you have a suspension system with alot of travel you may find it necessary to limit the travel so you do not pull the driveshaft apart or purchase a long travel driveshaft that will provide more slip in the driveshaft. you do want to keep at eye on spline enegagment at full droop. not enough spline engagment can cause the driveshaft to put to much stress in a small area causing the splines to twist or possibly break.


I will try and document my next rear shaft build. If I can get my hands on a dial indicator i plan on bolting it up and truing it up that way. tack weld it togeather. take it off the vehicle and then weld it up.

[Shaker]

I guess it's true you can work without me watching.:lol:

[drummond]

same procedure.

the slip is in the transfercase. it has a splined output which the t-case yoke slides on to give the driveshaft its slip. this is know as a "slip yoke"

a driveshaft with a fixed yoke the slip is in the driveshaft obviously. when lengthing one of those you will want to measure full droop and full compression to figure out ur max driveshaft length and min driveshaft length. if you have a suspension system with alot of travel you may find it necessary to limit the travel so you do not pull the driveshaft apart or purchase a long travel driveshaft that will provide more slip in the driveshaft. you do want to keep at eye on spline enegagment at full droop. not enough spline engagment can cause the driveshaft to put to much stress in a small area causing the splines to twist or possibly break.

makes sence, I am just used to the CJ's

[Grandman]

Captain you want to use a new tube . Trying to splice tubes togther will create a week spot , it would be very difficult to get it straight also .

These are Grand cherokee shafts i am using as well . They use a thicker wall tube then the GMC does making for a stronger D shaft .

My Grand front shaft needs only to be shortened , that will be a quick job .

[Sandals]

I do them the same way.

Even though i'm decent with a torch I always use the grinder to cut the welds off.

And FYI most decent driveshaf shops can get you ALL the parts you need (yokes, slips etc) to build one from scratch if you dont have one already for parts.

Also, alot of junkyards will let shafts go fairly cheap sometimes, I used to have a pile of several lying around

[sglide]

great write up marv
been doing them this way for a long time

[sandman]

Great write up marv.

[Cyco]

Great write up marv.

[FlamesFearMe]

Great write up marv.

X2. That is very cool.

[cjric]

you can use a hose clamp at each end, snugged, but not tight to balance the shaft. Drive it with the clamps snug and they will slide around and the nut part will balance the shaft out. Then, you can just tighten the clamp if you want, or weld on a weight where the nut ends up.

[itselliott]

Excelent write up. :thumbsup:

I just did my first ever (driveshaft) but had a lathe at the shop for facing the shaft ends and removal of the old weld.

Just a thought, that seam inside the new tube can be ground down just enough to allow the install of the ends to be "push fit" and less of a hammer fit.