Need advice on 1 pc drive line.

[imdarren]

Looking at the posibility of installing a 1 pc drive line on the 67 C10 Long Wheel Base W/ a 350/350.
Some questions.
1) Will I need to cut the hole in the rear cross member larger?
2) If so, how much?
3) What Make / Model / Year makes a good drive line donor?
4) Anything else I will need to know to pull this off . . . . ?
If I do need to do any cutting etc. I will need to do it before the frame gets powder coated.

Thanks for the help.

Darren

[Longhorn Man]

Asuming you have a short shaft tranny, and a coil rear (I dunno if the rear matters) and the engine is in the proper location, then you'll need a drive shaft of 68 inches long. You'll probably need to hack the rear cross member a bit.
You'll probably not find one this length, and have to get a custom one made, and since it is so long, many places won't do it,a nd many places that do...shouldn't.
Expect to pay some good cash.
And while plenty of people have done it, seems like only 1/2 are happy with the out come.

[Class of 69]

If you still have the 72 in your signature, does it have a one piece? I thought by then they had changed to it. The one piece is about twice the diameter of the two piece to handle the load. If the 72 has a one piece, measure it from center of the u-joints, and then the two piece to see if they are close.

[Longhorn Man]

None of the long bed 67 - 72 trucks came stock with a one piece.

[Piston]

I used a long tail 350T transmission and a 65" driveshaft. You have to trim the crossmember just a hair at the bottom but thats only for clearance problems when its raised on a lift.

[Brad]

1) you shouldn't have to cut the hole bigger, just take out the assembly that holds the carrier bearing on.

2) I don't remember, but I highly recommend Six States Distributors in Portland. I have the Muncie 3 speed and had a one piece made up after dealing with annual carrier bearing blowouts. I highly recommend the one piece conversion.

4) you shouldn't have to do any cutting at all, unless you've got some really high 4x4 or something..

If you need to look at one before you start spending $$, I'm in Portland most weekends and you're welcome to come over and look at mine.

[Piston]

Unless the LWB that I changed over a few months ago was some strange breed, you'll be taking material out. When the suspension is loaded (on the ground) there is plenty of room, when the truck is raised on a lift or the suspension is fully raised it will hit and could bend the shaft or do damage to the rear tailshaft of the transmission. Don't assume its going to clear... make sure it will when you have it on a lift.

I agree though, this is the best change I've done thus far. NO MORE BEARINGS lol.

ALSO, I had asked around locally about building a driveshaft that would work with the short tail transmission and the 3 companies I asked, refused. They said the shaft length would be too long with a short tail and would "whip", eventually ruining the joints, pinion bearing and tailshaft bushing. I can't remember the exact measurement but I believe most won't build one longer than 65" with 3" pipe.

[Brad]

Piston's probably right if you've got new stock suspension with no drop. I did this with stock 30 year old suspension and then I dropped it 1-2" more.

On a side note, I'm shortening my LWB and may have my one-piece available in about 2 months or less. I don't know yet if my other shorter driveshaft will work.

[imdarren]

Brad,
I may take you up on the offer to look at yours.
Thanks for the info. I did fail to mention that I will be lowering the rear suspension at least a couple inches.
E-mail me at darrengale67@hotmail when you will be up in the area. Would be cool to meet you, and see how that drive line looks under there. Nay also be interested in buying it later also (possibly).

Darren

[Brad]

I'll let you know when I'm up there again.

[Piston]

If this helps, I'll have my truck on the lift tomorrow night and could take a few pictures for you. It's hard to tell whats been done in photographs but it might help until you can have a look at Brads setup.

[imdarren]

Piston,
That would be great if you could take one or two pix.
If you get a chance. It's not a big deal if you don't get around to it however.
By the way . . . . Do you have a short or long tailshaft TH350?

Thanks.

Darren

[cableguy0]

does anyone know about using a custom aluminum shaft they are stronger than the steel and are usually 4 inch diameters also u can get a carbon fiber shaft supposed to be tons stronger than a steel shaft and a lot lighter too but i think they run about 800 bucks or so to get one made

[Jackal2k9]

one piece is awesome just make sure its done by a good shop. i took mine to a racing shop and lengthening(or was it shortening?) only cost 75 bucks for a z71 driveshaft with rebalance.