One or two piece driveshaft?

[68wannabe]

I'm sure there's some other threads on this, but I can't seem to find any. I have a 1968 C10 longbed and am moving everything over to a shortbed frame. So, my question is, should I cut down my current lwb two piece driveshaft, or just have a one piece made?

[Dunenutt]

Depends if the shaft will hit the cross member or not. I like the two piece, because it lines the shaft pivot up with the trailing arm pivot. Very little movement front to back.

[Old Truck Man]

as general rule short beds use a one piece driveshaft and long beds use a two piece.

[70blackfish]

i had a 70 chevy short bed, with 2 piece driveshaft, had a really good shifting turbo 400 trans, after chirping 2nd gear like 30 times.( I was a teenager) it would tweak the center support and break. leaving me stranded. hated it.

now my 69 GMC has a one piece and no problems, i have my truck pretty low and no problems. to me the center support is a weak link.

If you are going to lay frame, those guys use a 2 piece

[Fldawg]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

as general rule short beds use a one piece driveshaft and long beds use a two piece.

Not true my swb has a 2 piece

[bpatrol]

my 67 swb fleet is a 2 piece also. woulike 20 know what junkyard vehicle measures close to what we need with a 700r4 and a 12 bolt
phillip

[BigMike]

Originally Posted by 70blackfish

i had a 70 chevy short bed, with 2 piece driveshaft, had a really good shifting turbo 400 trans, after chirping 2nd gear like 30 times.( I was a teenager) it would tweak the center support and break. leaving me stranded. hated it.

I had the same issue, went through two carrier bearings. So I went with the CPP aluminum extra heavy duty carrier bearing and won't have to worry about being on the side of the road for that problem again. There are plenty of haters that say its nothing but bling and too expensive, but it won't break & leave you stranded.




I have only had my truck on the road for just over two years. First carrier bearing broke after a little more than 1k miles & the second carrier bearing (a heavy duty one which was beefier than the standard one) lasted less than that & F'ing up my new driveline in the process. Bought the CPP one and have put over 5k on it with no issues! I LOVE to chirp the tires in 2nd gear, but this little puppy likes to kick sideways too when I get on it & it hits 2nd for even more adrenalin. This carrier bearing has saved me from being stuck on the side of the road.

So if you have a 2 piece driveline and like to drive hard I would highly recommend getting one of these, especially if you've already tore up a carrier bearing or 2 in the past. When the 2nd one broke it banged up my driveline so I had it rebuilt/rebalanced with heavy duty u-joints.

BTW, I only paid around $80 for mine, it's a bit more expensive now but still cheaper than a tow home and repairing a drivelive.

[brad_man_72]

Call me a hater if you want I've built a couple of thousand driveshafts and you couldn't pay me to run a billet solid carrier. For one its solid, so you have to add a slip and stub to the rear shaft. So right there you've spent a few times what it would cost to have a new carrier, joints, and to have the shaft BALLANCED. BALLANCING is what breaks these carrier bearings. Unless somebody can explain how the inner race of the carrier bearing acclerating has some effect on the housing and breaking it. Or if somehow that inner bearing race knows when you're doing a burnout...
Yes there's a few dozen topics on 2 piece drivelines and people swapping parts, there's a pretty common denominator they either fix the symptom with a billit carrier or fix the problem by having the shaft ballanced.