should I make my own driveshaft?

All,

It's come to the point that I can buy and weld a new driveshaft for a low speed vehicle. How important is the "balance" when the rims are out of round, tires mounted without weights, and a slow machine?

I am pricing out the tube, yokes, slip yokes and u-joints...seems that I can put it together for a quite abit less than others offer.

Just testing the waters of opinions...chime in.

D.
 
There is a truck place in Terre Haute, Illiana Trucks, that can make you a drive shaft, straighten drive shaft and balance them.

I'll be glad to give you more info if you need it.

I had an old 78 dodge van with an aluminum drive shaft. I think it got bent by someone putting van on a lift.
geo
 
As long as you're good at fabricating and it's not someplace where it'll hit you or anybody else if it cuts loose,..well,all I can say is,you know your own capabilities.
 
rrlund,

What is a good number for runout? I am looking at a 6 inch slip joint, and what would be an aceptable runout of the end of a welded-in slip-joint six inches long with a driveshaft abut 4.5 feet long.

Thanks in advance.

D.
 
rrlund,

What is a good number for runout? I am looking at a 6 inch slip joint, and what would be an aceptable runout of the end of a welded-in slip-joint six inches long with a driveshaft abut 4.5 feet long.

Thanks in advance.

D.
 
I have a 1965 Ford 1 ton that I twisted the drive shaft off in it and I just ground the 2 u-joint parts out of the twisted shaft and welded them in a new piece of drive shaft pipe. Big thing it to make sure the have the u-joints timed correctly. I do have a little bit of vibration at around 25 MPH in it but that is it and I did that over a decade ago
 
cicus and others,

This a slow machine, and if the shaft broke, well, it has before. We are looking at a truck that rarely sees 30 mph. I think I will line up the u-koint ears using a piece of angle iron, then tack the yoke, then spin it to see how uch it wobbles.

Thanks for all the replies,

D>
 
I have made more then one that went in a car or truck and they all worked just fine and still have one in a 1965 Ford 1 ton and it was built by me 2 or 3 decades ago and it has worked just fine
 
What kind of equipment do you have to work with?

Any way to square the ends of the tube? And clean up and square the yoke where the tube seats?

If you can do that, and get a decent fit, and hold it tightly together while you tack it, it should be fairly straight.

Also depends on what type tubing you use.

DOM (drawn over mandrill) is best. It is straight, true to center, and no weld seam.

Structural tubing not so good. It has a weld seam on the inside, it won't run as true, and will have a built in "off balance" due to the weld.

Black or galvanized pipe, don't even consider it!

If you can rig some way to put it between centers while you tack it, and keep turning and correcting it as you tack, that would be the best. Get it straight and it should be fairly well balanced.
 
I agree, Local welding shop has done hundreds, I have one of his and never had a problem, never balanced, Runs great at 70 MPH and he did mine 25 years ago.
 
I have shorten my fair share and never had a problem even on hot rod stuff. The trick was using a large pipe cutter that had 3 cutter blades in it that way you can cut the tube straight and have a straight cut on the old yoke. Why 3 cutters I wanted to cut as close to the weld on the old yoke as possible to retain as much of the yoke as I could to drive into the tube.

I set it up in the car are truck and used a stand with a coke bottle on it beside the shaft to get it straight as I could then tacked it in place. The yokes fit into the tube it gives you some room to play with. If I had to make a guess they were with end 0.30 Total run out. At the time I was doing them I had rather have mine that the ones that were sent out to a local machine shop. Since then I have found a real driveshaft shop so farm them out, I am not as poor as I was back then :D Back then I think the shops that made shafts used exhaust tubing there shafts never held up :twisted:

Any vibration at any speed form a out of balance shaft is not good I have seen a out of balance driveshaft take the water pump out and its never good when the fan goes thru the radiator.
 
We used to send ours to this place, they did a very professional job, I also bought a slip clutch for my brush cutter and had them repair the driveshaft

Minnesota Driveline, Inc.
328 28th Ave South
Waite Park, MN 56387
 
When we were racing stock cars, we always had to have drive shafts made up depending on how far back in the chassis we set the engine.

We had a local machinist do it in his shop. He did everything on his lathe. Cut the tube on the lathe. Then when he welded the u joints in he chucked it in a lathe and rotated the lathe very slowly while he welded it.

Unfortunately, he got married, retired, and passed away, in that order. He was a genius with a lathe.
 
Russ,

I haven't looked the address up, but it seems that place was "power components" back in the days I remember.

I hope they still provide the absolutely complete driveline components they did back when, we're talking early '80.

I still think I can weld my own for my needs, however, if that shop is stillin business, perhaps I need to make a road trip to visit and get the driveshaft made.

D.
 
I have done a couple out of necessity. Too broke to pay a driveshaft shop in my younger days to do it right. They worked OK as I remember. Just make sure the yokes are clocked right and take all the time necessary to get it as straight as you can and you will likely be just fine. Not being a road truck, having bent wheels, and unbalanced tires you probably won't notice as long as you are close.

Greg
 

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