Hey everybody. I'm tossing around an idea and I'm looking for some info that I was unable to find in the search. I professionally build drivelines and I was contemplating on building an aluminum driveline for my 82 n/a. I get pretty good rates on parts through work and don't have to pay for labor since I can do it myself. I'm aware they don't really make much of a difference. Has anybody actually bought one of these through thezstore.com? I'm looking for dimensions of the "oversized" u joints to see what series they use and what diameter of tube they use. I've got some ideas on what i can use. I just need to pull my driveline out so I can measure up everything. Any info would be appreciated guys! Thanks!

Pete

 

I don't know all of what goes into making a new shaft other then cutting off your yokes and welding them to a new tube and balancing... so...

If the u joints are "oversized" wouldn't you need to machine your yokes for bigger joints? So couldn't you use just whatever u joint that fits between the ears?

And what would a shop charge for said services?

 

Pete, is there an advantage to an aluminum drive other than lighter weight? Thanks.

 

Well, I say oversize because that's what msa uses in their description on their aluminum driveshaft. I think it's because they aren't stock size. Standard size u joints in these are normally very small and I can't get parts for the stock size driveshafts in these (weld yokes, slip yoke, flange yoke) especially in aluminum. From what parts I've seen I'd have to upgrade it to a 1310 series u joint, which is common in a lot of older cars or jeep driveshafts, or many other applications. It's quite a bit bigger than stock size joints but still fairly light.

As for what a shop charges it really varies on what state you live in and if it's a steel or aluminum shaft. We charge $114 for steel shafts for weld and balance and it's about $180 something for aluminum. Aluminum parts are pretty expensive.

There are pros and cons to running aluminum shafts. Pros are you get the lighter weight, which uses a little less power to turn it increasing the amount of useable power at the wheels. It's not a big difference but a little always help. Especially if you match it with lighter flywheel. Both minute differences but it can make a difference if you do racing events with your Z.

 

Oh, and you never machine your yokes. You just buy bigger series yokes. Nobody actually makes yokes for oversize caps. They just make them for different series of u joints.