Two piece driveline to one piece?

[heavy70]

I have a lwb and I want to do away with the carrier bearing! Would one out of a van work? How much would I have to cut? My truck is dropped 6" in the rear how would this affect clearance if any?

[Longhorn Man]

before you do any cutting or hard planning, measure your driveshaft from center of the U-joint in the tranny to the center of the U-joint in the rear axle. Then measure the diameter of the shaft.
Now, call your drive shaft shop.
It will either be real real expensive, or they'll tell you they won't do it.

[ChevLoRay]

The length of the driveshaft is critical in determining whether or not a one-piece shaft can be done. The crux of the matter is if it is too long for the other dimensions, the driveshaft can develop a whipping action, meaning that the shaft can, or will, flex as it rotates. That may not be a good thing. It is one reason why we have two-piece driveshafts, but not the only reason.

[Longhorn Man]

exactly. I got sick of getting flamed and called a retard (in PMs and e-mails naturally) for telling ppl that.
6 foot long is the longest you'll want to make a *normal* shaft. Most shops won't make one longer. And the ones that will, will make your wallet bleed.
There is nothing wrong with a 2 piece shaft, they are better in many ways. The only drawback, people beating them with hammers to replace the carrier bearing, and the cost of the bearing and one u-joint.

[Andy4639]

I agree with the hammer method. I had a shop right after I got the truck replace the carrier bearing and when I went to check on it the guy was beating the crap out of it with a 5lbs. sledge hammer. As I was walking up the weight flew off and hit my leg. Needless to say I stoped him and got the owner. They paid the $150.00 bill to have it done right at a another shop. I haven't done anymore buisness with them since.
This same drive shaft has last almost 12 years so far without any problems. I keep it greased and the angle is correct for my truck.

[Bob 68327]

I had a one piece made for mine . It was quite expensive and it is under 6' .I can't remember exact length without measuring it. It was 3 yrs ago and I think I paid $400 for it . The reason I did this is because my 2 piece was destroyed in a act of burning the rear tires the carrier was broke from the cross member and screwed up the splines on the shafts . I have have had no problems with my one piece . I also would not recommend for everyone and let a shop make the call. My 2cents worth.

[COBALT]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

exactly. I got sick of getting flamed and called a retard (in PMs and e-mails naturally) for telling ppl that.
6 foot long is the longest you'll want to make a *normal* shaft. Most shops won't make one longer. And the ones that will, will make your wallet bleed.
There is nothing wrong with a 2 piece shaft, they are better in many ways. The only drawback, people beating them with hammers to replace the carrier bearing, and the cost of the bearing and one u-joint.

Probably because people don't understand the engineering of the original design. To a lot of people this is a puzzling "design flaw" to have a driveshaft separated by a bearing bolted to the frame, so naturally they think it should be a simple process of getting a new drive shaft.

I thought about going to a one-piece for a while, but then I thought it might be better to simply get a higher quality set of U-joints, and a higher quality carrier bearing. Don't get the el-cheapo-s. With a solid set of U-joints and a good carrier bearing you'll have a stronger driveline than a one-piece that's too long at higher torque and RPMs.

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by COBALT

Probably because people don't understand the engineering of the original design. To a lot of people this is a puzzling "design flaw" to have a driveshaft separated by a bearing bolted to the frame, so naturally they think it should be a simple process of getting a new drive shaft.

I thought about going to a one-piece for a while, but then I thought it might be better to simply get a higher quality set of U-joints, and a higher quality carrier bearing. Don't get the el-cheapo-s. With a solid set of U-joints and a good carrier bearing you'll have a stronger driveline than a one-piece that's too long at higher torque and RPMs.

Where can a quality carrier bearing be had?

[dave2953]

CPP has a nice one on their site, but I don't know of anyone that's running it.

[my70chevyc10]

Inland empire driveshafts in ontareo CA has a solid billet aluminum one. And it comes with a hefty price of $111

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by dave2953

CPP has a nice one on their site, but I don't know of anyone that's running it.

cant find it on the cpp site. got a link?

[bigjimzlll]

I'm running a 2 piece on my race truck.
850HP and it sees 7200rpm through the traps.
I had a 1 piece but there was signs of it "whipping" pretty good. The one piece was very heavy and expensive. It used 4" DOM tubing.
The 2 piece is not a stock set up and was not cheap(500 bucks) but I have warm fuzzy's with it.

[71Dragtruck]

Originally Posted by bigjimzlll

I'm running a 2 piece on my race truck.
850HP and it sees 7200rpm through the traps.
I had a 1 piece but there was signs of it "whipping" pretty good. The one piece was very heavy and expensive. It used 4" DOM tubing.
The 2 piece is not a stock set up and was not cheap(500 bucks) but I have warm fuzzy's with it.

Same here, custom 2 piece on my truck, but only 6500 through the traps, can't remember how much it cost, do remember it being less then expected and figured someone screwed up on the bill.

[Longhorn Man]

I have seen a stock 2 piece doing very high 12's in the 1/4 in a LWB 1/2 ton... also his daily driver/ONLY vehicle

[bigjimzlll]

I ran a stock 2 piece into the 11's with no problems....but since im running low 9's now it's a little past "Stock" anything...lol

[corn]

Im running the stock shaft with a 6" rear drop & havent had any problems.

[my70chevyc10]

I just installed my 2 piece shaft in my 70 swb. I kept having a problem with the center bearing braking so i took it to the local driveshaft shop and the guy installed a slip shaft and a new yoke and all new ujoints for $175.00. I have about 2in of suspention on my truck and when i would hit a bump it would shove the shaft forward into the trans and bottem out and it would bend in the middle and brake the bearing now it wont brake anything.
just let me know if anyone wants pics

[dave2953]

I ran a 2 piece for a few years and one day I found a stock 1 piece in my muffler guy's junk pile that was about 68" or so long. I had it cut down to the right length for my SWB and swapped the yoke for about $130. To have one made was going to be around $500, so I guess you could say I got really lucky.

[Longhorn Man]

exactly.

[jablack]

I took the two piece out of my 78 long bed and got a one piece out of an 86 long bed at the junk yard and cured all my problems. I think it was less than $15.00. Had to cut the bracket for the hanger bearing off.
If the cross member will allow it I'll do it on my 67.

[Frizzle Fry]

Another benny of a 2-piece is that the pinion angle doesn't change as much as the rear suspension moves up/down (assuming trailing arms). That's because the carrier bearing is at basically the same place fwd/aft as the trailing arm bushings.

[see ten]

I went from a two piece to a one piece when i lowered my swb. I used the ECE extreme drop xmember that wasn't designed to be used with a two piece shaft. Otherwise I would probably still have a two piece. In an airbag situation would a two piece be more practical? Just curious .......mumbling to myself........

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by see ten

In an airbag situation would a two piece be more practical?

I'd say yes. I went to a one-piece when I chopped the burb down. Then I bagged it and ended up having to mod the top of the TA X-Member for clearance. If I had it to do over again I'd keep the two-piece.

[see ten]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

I'd say yes. I went to a one-piece when I chopped the burb down. Then I bagged it and ended up having to mod the top of the TA X-Member for clearance. If I had it to do over again I'd keep the two-piece.

I had seen where when using the porterbuilt, guys were tunneling the back of the cab floor. If a 2 piece shaft was used do you think you could use a stock floor with a high hump?

[jlaird]

you can lay frame with a two piece without cutting the cab floor, all with proper pinion angles.