It Begins: Miss Blue

How badly does putting square tubing on the driveshaft mess it up? I've seen people do that for extra strength but it's mainly on trail rigs that don't see high speeds.

 

clank clank clank clank

 

lol you want nothing to do with that for anything that's going to be operating at highway speeds. Trailer queens and front driveshafts on manual hub vehicles only.

 

Sooooooooooo, don't do it?

 

If you did have the square tube and went 80mph what would happen?

 

In all likelihood the shaft would shake itself apart and self destruct. If it didn't, something it's attached to, like your t-case or pinion flange, would probably toast their bearings or shear something from the ridiculous vibration forces.

Also, your teeth would rattle out of your skull.

 

Sounds like a good time had by all.

 

The mesh I use for grills is thicker than that.

 

Hey John,

I'm getting my drive shaft re tubed with some thicker steel to hopefully avoid an issue like you had. Today I tried removing the bolts at the transfercase flange and they are mother fucking tight. Gonna have to pull the ATO skids to get better access to them and use some anti seize. So I decided I probably dont need to remove the whole shaft, and just removed the rear section from the diff flange to the slip yoke. What do you think about just having that section retubed and possibly get a spare of that section as well but leave everything else the same? should be fine right?

 

Surprised this hasn't been asked.
Which side do you put your shaft?
*Snicker, immature*

 

it'd make more sense if you spelled it right.. lol

 

If you change OD or material type/thickness on the retubed section it'll have different critical speed characteristics than the non-altered section. Could give you some vibration. Of course, it could just as easily be fine.

T-case flange has studs with nuts. You leave the studs in.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the idea of turning the driveshaft into a slider. Where does the weak link move then?

Driveshaft swap is an easy as fuck trail repair. I think I'm going to continue to carry a spare and pick my lines.

 

Diameter choice would be much easier if the truck weren't street driven. Right now I'm thinkin .120 wall. Research leads me to believe much thicker than that has balance/u-joint stress issues.

 

what do you think about just having a spare from the diff flange to the spline for the slip yoke? any reason that shouldnt be sufficient? and easier to change as well as lighter and less bulky?

 

Dude I know with a toy truck has drill pipe driveline, was telling me he had the whole rear end sitting on the driveline! Lifted up the whole axle, no problems.

I'd be a little worried about the t-case end but hey, that's way up there.

 

I don't know about easier to change. It's definitely an option.

Even with perfect balance, a two-piece shaft made out of two different diameters/wall thicknesses/materials may end up with different harmonic characteristics for each piece. How they interact is a question for the engineers. I just bullshit here.

I'm thinking a retube of .120 wall for both of mine, the OEM and the spare, and I'm a happy guy.

That's my worry. At what point does the output shaft or pinion shaft bend, or the t-case crack, or the third member lever and bend the studs, or what?

Changing driveshafts is easy and re-tubes are cheap. I like the weak link where it is.

 

Thanks for the help John!!

 

I would suggest .120 wall also. There is a drive shaft shop in concord that has built many crawlers, and DD's that refuses to make and drive shaft over this size for road use. He says with anything larger than that (.250) for example, of it isn't 100% balanced it will ruin flanges, U-joints, or pinions

 

I am encouraged by the fact that according to BFGs website, 35x12.50R17 KM2s will be 34.8" tall but only 11.9" wide on an 8.5" width wheel.