Square driveshaft's

[OpTimuS]

hey guys. I am trying to find info on making a pair of square driveshafts for my trail-rig. If anyone has any links/ guidance/ pictures please post them up.

Reasons I want a square driveshaft:
1. To get more "slip" (travel before the driveshaft comes apart).

2. It is strong.
3. It is easy to make and fix.
4. It is CHEAP!!!
5. It is EXTREMELY CHEAP!!!!!
6. It is infinitely adjustable.


Cheers.

[Mace]

You plan on ever going fast?

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Do a search on Pirate for more info, but here's a link that will get you started.

Square driveshaft ? (even after doing search) - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Originally Posted by Mace

You plan on ever going fast?

I've had mine up to 55 or 60(speedo is kinda bouncy ) on the road with my front shaft spinning and aside from a little bit of noise I couldn't tell it was spinning. Granted I'm running unbalanced swampers, so new vibrations are hard to notice.

[Mace]

That's front shaft spinning, not load bearing..

IMHO front square shafts are fine.

In the rear, you need to pony up unless it is a temp wheelin fix...

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Originally Posted by Mace

That's front shaft spinning, not load bearing..

IMHO front square shafts are fine.

In the rear, you need to pony up unless it is a temp wheelin fix...

Doh, I missed the PAIR part

For my rear shaft I made a shaft using a stock rear shaft and retubed it with 2.5" Schedule 40 pipe. used a little jig to spin it while I tacked it all together to check its straightness, and then welded her up. It's not perfect, but I can't tell driving it around town. Thinking about taking it to see if a shop can balance it.

[OpTimuS]

Originally Posted by Mace

You plan on ever going fast?

nope nt any more.
My slow speed shenanigans will also mean I can run Tom woods offest uni's in my double cardon joints.

[OpTimuS]

Originally Posted by Mace

That's front shaft spinning, not load bearing..

IMHO front square shafts are fine.

In the rear, you need to pony up unless it is a temp wheelin fix...

What do you mean pony up??

[OpTimuS]

it is also most probably fairly important that I chuck this in:

To balance the shaft I will 1/2 fill the smaller dia shaft with sand and then seal up the shaft so that there is no water ingress and no chance of the setup rusting.

I also think that it is a good idea to put a bicycle inner tube over the slip fiting to stop water and grit getting into it.

I will most likely use 2 1/2" x 1/4" wall tube for the outer and 2" x 3/16 or 1/4" wall for the shorter inner tube.

I will also most probably use tom woods uni's for all uni's in the double cardon and the other end of the shaft if I can get them to fit a Toyota.

[Jonathan_Ferguson]

Originally Posted by OpTimuS

What do you mean pony up??

To pay to do it properly the first time.

[OpTimuS]

There is also this:
When you weld in the CV side of the shaft, make sure you leave enough room for the joint to fully flex. Someone ground the end square and dropped it into the tube and welded it. Unfortunately, they ground too much, so when it dropped in, it dropped in too far so that when the joint moves it hits the tube, thus stopping it. It wasn't TOO bad, but it isn't great either. he don't know yet if it is enough to be a problem on the truck. He is going to have to try to take a dremel and groove the square tube to create more room for the double cardon to move.

[OpTimuS]

Originally Posted by Jonathan_Ferguson

To pay to do it properly the first time.

For a trail rig............. FT!

[Arya Ebrahimi]

This really isn't that hard. It sounds like you already have all the answers, so why are you asking?

For the inner tube I would highly recommend using 2" 1/4" wall and just grinding a small groove in the one side that aligns with the weld seam on the inside of the outer tube. Clear as mud?

[JONNYFJ]

Square drive shafts work great on the front but you can't balance a square so if you plan on going over 30 you might want a tube shaft 4 the rear. My mini has a square up front and it has never given me any probs. I will post some pics later

[bustanutley]

I just retired my front square shaft, I won't miss it, but it was strong. If you are linking your truck why do you need a lot of slip? you should be able to get away with stock parts and have nice shafts that will spin as fast as you want.

[Isotel]

im running one in the front, and it works fine..

Once i can come up with a few Hundred dollars i will pull it and get a real one.. The Clanking and vibrations get old after a day on the trail.

don't over think it with ways to keep it sealed and balanced, If you want a cheep solution, this is it, but just grab 2 pieces of Tube (i think i used Trailer hitch stuff), weld them on as best as you can, and call it good

[Eskimo]

And let's not forget now that your driveshaft won't give, something else might... (cue the photo of the nose cone busted off)

[Shipwreck]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

And let's not forget now that your driveshaft won't give, something else might... (cue the photo of the nose cone busted off)

Yep.

I hope to be able to get rid of my square shaft this year. One of the problems with a square shaft is that it does not spin smoothly if laid on a rock. I did this by climbing a ledge at Fordyce trail. The front shaft was just barely touching a rock ledge, but when I tried to move the truck the corners of the square shaft hit the rock as it spun and cracked the nose cone of the t-case.

This would not have happened if I had a regular shaft.

[Isotel]

good Call Eskimo, I Also Broke the Tabs on my nosecone in moab one year! w/the Square DS..

Those Stock T-cases suck anyway

[hammerhead]

I have a square shaft on the front of one of my rigs and have had no problems at all. It does run a mini case so nose cone trouble.

On my '74 FJ40 I run a schedule 40 shaft and it purrs along smooth as can be at any speed.

I think the most important part is how straight it is assembled. My square shaft runs very smooth and I have no qualms about spinning it higher than 30 MPH...

There is a good square shaft write-up in the Toy-mini FAQs on PBB. You can also find a write-up about a trueing jig for assembling Toyota shafts while you are there...

[Gumby]

my square shaft clunks and vibrates when it's not under load. Not really an issue except driving between trails. If I got out and unlocked the hubs it wouldn't bother me at all.

My nose cone spit out a couple of times now. It seems to be a problem with the rear shaft bottoming out and pushing the output shaft forward though. I cured that problem and haven't had an issue since.


I like my four-spline long travel shaft, but I'm beginning to run into u-joint angle issues even with a limiting strap, so I might have to go ahead and send Jesse some business. The next project for the pig is to raise the drivetrain up to flat bottom it. I'm sure the driveshaft angles will get worse from there.

[OpTimuS]

Originally Posted by bustanutley

I just retired my front square shaft, I won't miss it, but it was strong. If you are linking your truck why do you need a lot of slip? you should be able to get away with stock parts and have nice shafts that will spin as fast as you want.

I don't need alot of slip. but when the local drivetrain store wants 550 beer tickets to modify my old shaft I am conidering other options.

Because I am lowering and moving my engine backwards, and I plan on buying a Klune-V underdrive (IF THE FREIKING OWNER EVER EMAILS ME BACK) my driveshafts will be modified dramatically in length.

[OpTimuS]

Originally Posted by Isotel

im running one in the front, and it works fine..

Once i can come up with a few Hundred dollars i will pull it and get a real one.. The Clanking and vibrations get old after a day on the trail.

don't over think it with ways to keep it sealed and balanced, If you want a cheep solution, this is it, but just grab 2 pieces of Tube (i think i used Trailer hitch stuff), weld them on as best as you can, and call it good

o.k. KISS.
got you.

[OpTimuS]

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

Yep.

I hope to be able to get rid of my square shaft this year. One of the problems with a square shaft is that it does not spin smoothly if laid on a rock. I did this by climbing a ledge at Fordyce trail. The front shaft was just barely touching a rock ledge, but when I tried to move the truck the corners of the square shaft hit the rock as it spun and cracked the nose cone of the t-case.

This would not have happened if I had a regular shaft.

that is super nasty. I am going to be running a toyota L/C 4-speed. I hope I don't have these dramas. Although I have heard of people snapping the output shaft.

[OpTimuS]

Originally Posted by Gumby

my square shaft clunks and vibrates when it's not under load. Not really an issue except driving between trails. If I got out and unlocked the hubs it wouldn't bother me at all.

My nose cone spit out a couple of times now. It seems to be a problem with the rear shaft bottoming out and pushing the output shaft forward though. I cured that problem and haven't had an issue since.


I like my four-spline long travel shaft, but I'm beginning to run into u-joint angle issues even with a limiting strap, so I might have to go ahead and send Jesse some business. The next project for the pig is to raise the drivetrain up to flat bottom it. I'm sure the driveshaft angles will get worse from there.

Have you considered using tom woods uni's?