Well as many of you know I toook out the stocker with my new found power. Only on the second hook.

Heres my dilema, I was wanting aluminum but Republic Diesel said the thickest the can get is .125"....which is what i already had in the stocker. I was hoping to find some 3/16" or 1/4" wall stuff but thats not looking too good. Or possibly using .125" only in Billett Alum. Any ideas on where to find anything like that?

I also checked aout a steel one. But they said because my driveshaft was over 68" from the centerline of each universal in the yokes on the driveshaft, that Spicer (driveshaft company) deemed them unsafe.

Mine is 71" from centerline to centerline of the u-joints on the driveshaft.

If anyone knows where i can get some help please let me know

Thanks
Ry

I ran into the same problem trying to get a spare one built for mine. Give Greensburg Driveline a call,724-837-8233 ask for Mark. They just built a steel one for nwpadmax and he said it was perfect. Maybe shoot him a PM for more info.

is his a CC SB?

Ryan, I'll measure mine when I get home, but the wall thickness is more like 0.090" and not 0.125".

Have you called one of the fancy schmancy racer driveshaft shops like Inland Empire in CA? They advertise as being one of the few Spicer-certified aluminum shaft shops. Do a google search for aluminum driveshafts and you'll find a couple others.

Greensburg Machine is local to us and he told me that the 78-and-up Chevy regular cab trucks had 68.5" shafts that internally telescoped (making them even heavier), so he didn't see any issue running a 70.5" shaft for mine (with the slip yoke in the tranny). They made mine out of 4" drawn-over-mandrel (DOM) tubing. I don't know how thick, forgot to ask.

BTW, Sleddy highly recommends Greensburg Machine. I don't know if that kills the deal for you or not ):h

Mine is not pull-proven yet, so I can't vouch for the strength as of now. I can tell you that it's balanced great and just whooping on it around town, I can't tell the difference from stock.

Mark did caution me that aluminum driveshafts have good damping and a fair amount of twist, so they feel very nice and forgiving. The steel is much stiffer and does not damp much, so if anything is wrong in the drivetrain, you're much more likely to feel it.

With all the aluminum shafts breaking, I don't think there's much choice. Of course you could go thicker with the tube, but I've never been thrilled with aluminum welds in fatigue situations, and that's what broke on mine.

do you know what the length of the shaft is from centerline to centerline of the u-joints in the yokes on the shaft?

Bill and I both measured the stock shaft (center to center of the u-joint bore) on our trucks at 70.5". Both are CC/SBs like yours.

His is an '05 and mine is an '02.

There is lots of play lengthwise when you put it in. It would easily take a 71" shaft, but it's hard to say how GM chose that length. If you knew how much the rear end was designed to move and articulate, that would give you a clue. I wouldn't go any shorter, it would put less slip yoke spline length on the output shaft spline. I have not heard of the slip yokes breaking the splines out, though. I think you'd want the max engagement you could get and still allow for articulation without binding lengthwise.

Oh and just in case anyone is wondering, the u-joints are 1.190" OD on the cap and about 4.1875 wide, which is a 1410-series joint.

www.highangledriveline.com

www.4xshaft.com (http://www.4xshaft.com)
My brother runs Tom Woods shafts on his K5 with 44's. He offers a warranty on them that if they break or bend he will replace it no problem. My brother trashed both of his due to the trans popping into neutral under full throttle in a mud pit then popping back into gear within seconds, even broke the yoke on the diff. Quick turn around time as well.

www.4xshaft.com (http://www.4xshaft.com)
My brother runs Tom Woods shafts on his K5 with 44's. He offers a warranty on them that if they break or bend he will replace it no problem. My brother trashed both of his due to the trans popping into neutral under full throttle in a mud pit then popping back into gear within seconds, even broke the yoke on the diff. Quick turn around time as well.


yea i saw his site, looks like he knows what he's doin. i have a quick fix comin, hopefully it will work out. if not ill prob give him a call

steele shaft will due you fine, IMO its stronger, at least from Greensburg... 70 1/2" go 70 if you want, 71" I suppose is okay, but if you shove that shaft to far in your t-case will explode!!!

i went 70.5 with .090" wall 4"tube with heavy duty yokes and solid u-joints

i went 70.5 with .090" wall 4"tube with heavy duty yokes and solid u-joints

Did you buy the extended warranty?:D

I'm suprised they made the shaft out of 4". The shop where I had my spare made said 5" was the smallest they could do because of the length. I want to say the wall thickness is somewhere between .08-.09.

I'm suprised they made the shaft out of 4". The shop where I had my spare made said 5" was the smallest they could do because of the length. I want to say the wall thickness is somewhere between .08-.09.


are u talkin about steel or alum

his new one is steel and is .086''

his new one is steel and is .086''


was this on a CC SB? where did you get this made?

was this on a CC SB? where did you get this made?

What do the CC and LB Dodges use? They've been running big power, tires, etc. for a long time now. I'm sure they must have had to upgrade or are their shafts not as long/big as ours ):h ?

What do the CC and LB Dodges use? They've been running big power, tires, etc. for a long time now. I'm sure they must have had to upgrade or are their shafts not as long/big as ours ):h ?


2 piece driveshafts on most from what i hear, but i dont want that

was this on a CC SB? where did you get this made?

Yes it is for a CC SB. I forget the name of the shop Badger something or another here in Milwaukee. Shaun will have to answer that. He had it made up for me.

Yes it is for a CC SB. I forget the name of the shop Badger something or another here in Milwaukee. Shaun will have to answer that. He had it made up for me.



if you dont mind see if you can find out

I agree with Joey D. I just put in a Tom Woods Driveshaft becuase I had a dent in my Alum. one. It's 4" Steel and is much heavier duty than an aluminum would ever be. It was $364 For the drive shaft. Make sure you get the ujoints on it because they were going to sell me the 1350 Spicers, almost guaranteeing that those would be the right ones, so i had to re-assure them that they were the 1410's on both ends. Great Product

I agree with Joey D. I just put in a Tom Woods Driveshaft becuase I had a dent in my Alum. one. It's 4" Steel and is much heavier duty than an aluminum would ever be. It was $364 For the drive shaft. Make sure you get the ujoints on it because they were going to sell me the 1350 Spicers, almost guaranteeing that those would be the right ones, so i had to re-assure them that they were the 1410's on both ends. Great Product

do you know what wall thickness he used?

dmaxlovers was made at badger ford rebuild shop in milwaukee WI. I get a good deal because they build all our drive shafts for work, I don't have there # on hand.

the driveshaft guy doesn't thinik the 4" steel will hold after seein how big my alum was. so i dont know what to do now

Go to carbon fiber drive shafts.
Light. Strong. Expensive.

Well, let's not jump off the bridge yet Ryan.

First, on the carbon fiber: go read for yourself, CF shafts are strong and lightweight, but they twist a lot more than steel. They are less rotationally stiff. So my concern there is not breakage, but tell me what happens when your short steel front shaft only twists 5 degrees under load, and your rear CF shaft twists 25 degrees? I dunno, but it doesn't look good on paper.

Now, back to steel.

Steel is so much stiffer and stronger than aluminum. That's WHY the aluminum shaft is so big. They had no choice but to make it that big.

Lemme do some calcs. Get back to you later.

***WARNING, MATH CONTENT BELOW***

Driveshafts and torque tubes are stressed in shear when torque is applied to them.

The max shear stress formula, for a hollow shaft is:

stress = (16 * Torque * OD) / (pi * (OD^4 - ID^4))

OK, I measured my Al shaft and it is 5" OD and 0.090" wall.

If you simplify the above and take the ratio of the 5", 0.090" wall versus the new 4", 0.090" wall design, you find that the shear stress (at the same applied torque values) are twice (2X) in the smaller shaft.

That's a pretty big increase for only one inch difference in the OD. BUT:

Steel has 4X the shear modulus of aluminum. So, the steel shaft is going to twist only half as much as the aluminum shaft.

Furthermore, the ultimate shear strength of 0.2% carbon steel is almost 2X that of 6061-T6 aluminum.

So, unless someone can come up with a better argument, I'm going to sleep well tonight.

With a steel shaft. ):h

I like this guy, and not because he is sleeping with a steel shaft. I appreciate good advise from knowledgable people on here but he goes beyond that and proves it with math. No arguing then. Love it. Rock the numbers Mat!


C-ya

I like this guy, and not because he is sleeping with a steel shaft. I appreciate good advise from knowledgable people on here but he goes beyond that and proves it with math. No arguing then. Love it. Rock the numbers Mat!


C-ya

Yeah,but you should watch him tie his shoes some time.):h

Seriously,good info Matt,thanks for all you research and input. Seems to work much better than an uneducated guess.

Yeah,but you should watch him tie his shoes some time.):h

):h Yeah 'specially if I'm chewing gum at the same time :D