One-Piece Rear Driveshaft

ok im still interested in this. I would like to go with a stronger/lighter one piece for my 96 extended cab long bed 5sp both for the mileage and so i dont break another two piece pulling.. Im not drag racing it and not going for high speeds other than the occasional 100+ a little blasts but with my 3.54 gears the shaft speed shouldnt be an issue. So can I use one of the new stocker aluminium shafts or have a steel one made?
 
I run an aluminum one piece driveshaft out of a D-Max. Had to shroten it after lowering the truck.
 
thanks for that.. ill prolly just get one built even tho the new stockers seem to work fine but i would hate to do it again.
 
Lost the carrier bearing in my QCLB 4x4 NV5600. I searched this subject pretty hard early last year. Went in and talked to the guy at Six States that has built my other shafts he crawled under the truck with a tape and said 'no problem'.

At that point I decided the next time I had an issue with the driveline I was just gonna have him build me a single. They were actually too busy the day it gave up so they gave me the number of a shop down the street that does nothing but drive shafts.

Ended up with a 4" Steel shaft .095wall 73.5" c to c on the u-joints

This is on my daily driver. From what I've read I was a little concerned it might have vibration issues, but it's smooth. So far the shaft has seen a 12.95@107.6 with a race weight of 7700. It's also seen 120ish mph.

Course this has only been in there 2 months so nothing long term here. Just wanted to throw this out there for anyone on the fence.
 
I would becareful with that, 4" in stl is close to a thousand rpm less it can see than an AL shaft, so you're limited to around 3800/4000rpm, id be real careful about playing around with 120 mph speeds.


Believe me when i tell you, you'll much rather be in that truck/car/boat when it breaks from hp, than speed related. . . Hp breaks when you're in 1st gear, rarely 2nd, speed breaks happen after that, and a 4" 095 stl shaft spinning at 3800 rpm in 2 pieces broken in the middle will act like a shredder. . .to everything it contacts
 
Well 120-130mph is like 3200 engine rpm in 6th gear so that is IIRC .73 gear reduction so the shaft speed is only around 2300rpm's. Unless I am thinking of that wrong?
 
Sandaholic said:
Well 120-130mph is like 3200 engine rpm in 6th gear so that is IIRC .73 gear reduction so the shaft speed is only around 2300rpm's. Unless I am thinking of that wrong?
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Yeah you got that all wrong. . . . the od only slows everything before it, not after it...

6th is od gears, drop into 5th gear next time you're at 120 and that is what the shaft IS spinning at. . .

If you have 3.73's and 35's for tires your shaft is at around 4200 to 4300

you are exceeding that shafts ability by as much as 500 rpm, the outcome of that break you will not like. . . .

Don't lose that receipt for that shaft, it's like the tahoe and silverado guys that speed limiter is there because the shaft breaks when you exceed 120, the 1st thing the chevy guys do when they get there programmers, remove the speed limiter, break the shaft, t-case, exhaust and then get a AL shaft, or some going to the wrong driveline shop get another stl shaft


Gotta be careful, every part of a driveshaft matters and plays a role in handling hp and tq and rpm, the .095 is helping it a little to exceed that rpm limit i set, but it's risky to play at those speeds, the shop should have warned you about the speed issue before building it, if you start feeling any vibes, back out slowly, do not just jump off the gas pedal.
 
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I knew I had that wrong. The shaft speed can be determined by the road speed, tire size and gear ratio. It's always going to be spinning relative to the road speed. Not sure why I was having such a hard time with that one, but good old google reveals that I'm not the only one!

The shop that made the shaft gave me paperwork that said it shouldn't exceed like 2600-2800rpm's or something ridiculous like that (I'll have to dig them up again and take a look). That got a raised eyebrow from me as I hit those r's daily. But I guess I need to quit thinking like that as the engine rpm's aren't the same.

Since I already paid for the damn thing I figured I'd just see what happens. Took it pretty easy at first and gradually gave it more and more rpm's.

Maybe I'd be more nervous if I understood the design principals and limitations better! Ignorance is bliss. Hopefully it doesn't bite me in the ass! Guess I'll be looking into this a little more. Thanks for the reply.

On a side note the part of me that thinks I'm funny just decided that I can still drive a little too fast in the pickup that wasn't built for speed........just need to get some bigger tires!
 
Shop in town suggests that I'd have no problem at 140mph and 800/1500# with a 6" one piece shaft.....

what say you all? I need to get my two piece checked out for a vibration, I figured I'd put that cash into a one piece instead of balancing. $600 is the cost.
 
JasonCzerak said:
Shop in town suggests that I'd have no problem at 140mph and 800/1500# with a 6" one piece shaft.....

what say you all? I need to get my two piece checked out for a vibration, I figured I'd put that cash into a one piece instead of balancing. $600 is the cost.
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6" diameter?
 
Well depending on length 6" should work.... but if you're under 80 inches on center then you could see 6300 SHAFT RPM, do not go by MPH.

Whats your gear ratio and tire size. . .
 
tire size, then i'll figure what your at, do you know the length the shaft needs to be, say your at 80 inches, the shaft would be at 5k with 35's, so you're ok for speed...
 
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Sandaholic said:
The shop that made the shaft gave me paperwork that said it shouldn't exceed like 2600-2800rpm's or something ridiculous like that (I'll have to dig them up again and take a look). That got a raised eyebrow from me as I hit those r's daily.
Click to expand...

They covered themselves, however i rather explain in detail and not do it that way rather than have to worry about the incident that happens as the result of it...

At the end of the day you/they aren't going to care about why it broke and who's fault, it'll be me or that shop....

Better to explain why and how it works and do it differently. . .
 
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