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From: JohnHuntD@aol.com
Full-name: JohnHuntD
Message-ID: <7d.257b4023.29e72d54@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 14:17:56 EDT
Subject: Re: [oletrucks] Drive Shaft
To: josiah.bartlett@exgate.tek.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
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I used to build street rods and on half a dozen projects took the front and
rear u-joint yokes to a driveshaft fabricator to get a custom driveshaft
built. I always gave him the distance in inches between the yokes when the
front yoke was pushed all the way into the transmission, and let the
driveshaft builder tell me how long the driveshaft should be and how much
free play to allow at the front yoke both both easy of assembly and up and
down movement of the rear axle.
It seemed like the resulting driveshaft always left about 3/8" to 1/2" of
free play on the front yoke when I bolted everything up and the car's weight
loaded on the springs.
Not very scientific but it always worked for me.
P.S. I recently bought a modified 700R4 . The guy gave me a spare yoke that
had been in his Pro Stock drag car. It obviously had come out of a car with
about 3/4" of free play in the drive shaft, because from about 3/4" from the
rearmost end of the splines forward, all the splines were rotated a few
degrees from the splines at the very back of the yoke that must not have been
in contact with the transmission output shaft. I didn't believe it was
possible, but I guess about 750 HP and slicks can literally shift the splines
inside the yoke. That is power!
Peace.
John Doak in Baltimore, Md.
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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