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Custom Driveshafts

Discussion in 'Early CJ5 and CJ6 Tech' started by Monkeyman, Nov 27, 2006.

  1. Nov 27, 2006
    Monkeyman

    Monkeyman Jeeper and Fast Boater

    East Troy WI
    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2003
    Messages:
    75
    From your guys experiance, where is the best place to get driveshafts made? I am in need of them for my jeep. Right now I just have the old ones that I welded up to make sure that I have the right size before I go and order a set. And no, stock size will not fit as my jeep is anything but stock. Thanks a lot Zach
     
  2. Nov 27, 2006
    neptco19

    neptco19 That guy....

    Athens, GA
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    1,381
    Tom Woods is good but ver $xpen$ive. Check for a local Fleetpride or a co. similar to them. Around here they do a good job for any kind of driveshaft work.
     
  3. Nov 27, 2006
    w3srl

    w3srl All-around swell dude Staff Member

    Port Orange, FL
    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2002
    Messages:
    4,275
    Check the yellow pages, there should be several shops to call.
     
  4. Nov 28, 2006
    Dummy

    Dummy I kick hippies

    Escondido, CA
    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2004
    Messages:
    646
    One of the big differences I've found between a regular driveshaft shop and somebody like Tom Wood's is the ability to make something that'll survive off road. Most local places just build you a car driveshaft with the Spicer ends of your choice (CV, 1310, etc.). Make sure if you go with a local shop they high speed balance the shafts and they'll use heavy wall tubing (probably .065 or .083) in lieu of the thing wall street stuff.

    Tom Wood's shop makes about the nicest stuff for a dual purpose rig that spends a lot of time on the road, yet sees serious trails. He's got excellent balance machinery and pretty much wrote the book on the way a lot of today's shops run their operations. Or he'll build you a heavy walled shaft geared more towards off road use. I've got 0.120-wall shafts front and rear in my flattie and an .083 CV in the rear of my XJ.

    JE Reel makes really nice stuff too and his prices are decent. I used the Canyon Crawler shafts front and rear in my Hatari CJ-6. The rear shaft took a beating on the Rubicon and came out with no issues. Good stuff and he stands by his work.

    High Angle Driveline is my choice for stuff that I'm just plain gonna abuse off road. I know Jess will build it right and it'll stand up. I've been amazed at the punishment his shafts have swallowed in a few of my rigs. My favorite was the rear 1350 CV driveshaft in my Ramcharger. I dented the tubing and partially corkscrewed it when I high centered on a rock on Upper Helldorado. The thing held together for the rest of the trail, then for the rest of the 3rd. Ultimate Adventure including a few sick trails in CO and the drive home to CA. 5500lb rig, 146:1 crawl ratio, 250hp, and 42s on Hummer hoops @ 170lbs/ea. with a lot of throttle work. The welds would've failed on most other shafts.
     
  5. Nov 28, 2006
    66cj5

    66cj5 Jeep with no name

    NorthWest Indiana
    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2003
    Messages:
    2,084
    :iagree:

    I found a local guy to do mine. said he gets a LOT of work from locals going to Attica and Silver Lake.
     
  6. Nov 28, 2006
    Corveeper

    Corveeper Member

    Chanute, Kansas
    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2005
    Messages:
    817
    Here’s where I got mine.

    http://www.driveshaftsuperstore.com/

    Tom Woods is a little more expensive and he wouldn’t do the flanged CV like I wanted.
    Attached is a picture of what I got. It was a little under $400 delivered to my door.
     
  7. Nov 28, 2006
    Monkeyman

    Monkeyman Jeeper and Fast Boater

    East Troy WI
    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2003
    Messages:
    75
    I will call around to local shops first. Well Corveep, I am glad to see I am not the only one that is running a Stubby little driveshaft. Hey Karl, what is attica like. I live in lower WI and my brother lives in Indiana (South port) and I go right past it when I go visit him. would like to check it out if it is a good place. Thanks alot guys Zach
     
  8. Nov 28, 2006
    Patrick

    Patrick Super Moderator Staff Member

    Los Alamos, NM
    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2002
    Messages:
    8,360
    FWIW, I sent my front shaft off today to be re-tubed 5" longer, and balanced. I called a place in Santa Fe, and he told me it didn't need to be balanced..... I dissagree, so I sent it to a regular driveshaft shop......
     
  9. Nov 29, 2006
    Hansh

    Hansh Going Mobile

    SE Wisconsin
    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2004
    Messages:
    425
    I have used a shop in Elkhorn, I think it is called Elkhorn Driveshaft. Could also try Wally's in Kenosha.
     
  10. Nov 29, 2006
    Blue76cj5

    Blue76cj5 New Member

    Hellertown, PA
    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2006
    Messages:
    4
    Zack,

    I used three companies the first is
    Tom Woods (Excellent but over $300):shock:
    Drive Shaft Superstore (Not Impressed but less Expensive):smash:
    Tatton's (Excellent Less the Tom Woods a rear drive shaft with a CV for @ $220):)
    Call him Curtis Tatton (801) 979-4908.

    Good Luck

    Jeff
     
  11. Nov 29, 2006
    Corveeper

    Corveeper Member

    Chanute, Kansas
    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2005
    Messages:
    817
    That’s nothing. Here’s a comparison to what it replaced.
     
  12. Nov 29, 2006
    toolbox

    toolbox If you get bored, I've got the projects.

    Hamilton, Montana
    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2006
    Messages:
    347
    :shock: :shock: Yikes, that's not a driveshaft, that's just a couple of yokes! I guess the next step from that would be just using a u-joint between the tranny and rear axle R) . I've worked on full size trucks for years, and it's always amazing to me just how stubby these Jeep lines can be. The driveline in my last truck was 4" in diameter, and about 6' long lol. And that was behind the SM465/NP205 :twisted: .
     
  13. Nov 29, 2006
    Corveeper

    Corveeper Member

    Chanute, Kansas
    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2005
    Messages:
    817
    With a slip joint in the middle. Yup, that’s pretty much it.
    The reason it was only 8” from u-joint to u-joint was my transfer case had a Borg Warner R-10 overdrive attached to the back of it when I bought this Jeep from my uncle. By removing that, and sell’n it on E-Bay to help pay for the swap, I was able to replace it with a drive shaft almost 12” longer.
     
  14. Nov 29, 2006
    toolbox

    toolbox If you get bored, I've got the projects.

    Hamilton, Montana
    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2006
    Messages:
    347
    Gotcha. I had one of those overdrives in a '63 Galaxie 500 I had in college. Worked pretty well. Man...just too long for a CJ though. That driveshaft is insane!
     
  15. Nov 29, 2006
    Monkeyman

    Monkeyman Jeeper and Fast Boater

    East Troy WI
    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2003
    Messages:
    75
    I actually had elkorn driveshaft build my driveshaft for my bronco II. Now I run regular u-joints, and no more of that axle CV shaft type crap that came stock on it. I did not even remember that till now. I will call him tomorrow and see what he says and I will call that Curtis Tatton as well. Hans, were do you live that you use elkorn driveshaft? I am just in east troy, which is the next town north of elkorn. Zach
     
  16. Nov 29, 2006
    Hansh

    Hansh Going Mobile

    SE Wisconsin
    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2004
    Messages:
    425
    I am just south of Burlington.
     
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