The driveshaft rotates at up to max engine RPM, and is the critical link between the engine and the road, transmitting all of the power. Any trouble, issues, weakness, instability negatively affects the whole vehicle.
I ilke to tackle things myself. I have a welder, a lathe, a milling machine, I even have a DIY aluminum foundry.
But there are some things that I have learned are better farmed out to professional:
Grinding crankshafts
Milling head and block
Rebuilding automatic transmission
Making springs
To that, I'll add cutting, welding, and balancing my own driveshaft.
I do not have a lathe capable of making a true cut to the tube.
I do not have a fixture capapable of holding driveshaft parts in perfect alignment while welding them back together.
I do not have a balancing machine.
I do not have the experience of working on hundreds or thousands of driveshafts.
Mind you, if I HAD TO, I would take a crack at it.
But for the minimal amount of money that these shops charge to do a GREAT job, I'm more than willing to do so.
YMMV.
Carter
--Previous Message--
: Excellent. Thanks Dan.
:
: On the drive shaft: Is your
: measurement of 37 1/2 inches for the
: total length (from the tip of the slip
: coupling to the back face of the
: universal flange) or just the length of
: the "pipe" between the UJs?
:
: I will, of course be fitting as well,
: once I get the engine and tranny
: installed this weekend.
:
: Ciao! - Jim
:
: --Previous Message--
: Hi Jim- Now I understand, I was only
: thinking about the input shaft. On the
: driveshaft parts you are quite right-
: the toyota end (at the tranny) is all
: you need. Do away with the Triumph
: coupling, by cutting the shaft close to
: the weld. The Toyota driveshaft will
: fit inside the Triumph shaft, a bit
: loose. I remember using two wraps of
: masking tape to center it up before
: rewelding. It will likely need
: rebalancing.
:
: Weld the interference joint with
: a tig if possible, but mig is fine if
: the penetration is good. I usually weld
: 1/4 way around at a time, on opposing
: sides. The long pin-socket fit (if
: true) should keep it from developing
: runout. Too big a weld might cause it
: to happen though. It would need a
: matching weld on the opposite side to
: pull it straight.
:
: On the bracket I just cut down it
: to fit.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Oops. Mucho lost in translation!
:
: I was talking about the drive
: (propeller) shaft. The stock triumph
: shaft has a sliding coupling toward the
: differential end. The Toyota drive
: shaft connects to the T50 with a
: splined coupling. I feel uncomfortable
: with both of those things having the
: ability to let the drive shaft move
: back and forth that much.
:
: I just revisited your pictures and
: found what I was looking for. When I
: first saw the picture of the two cut
: pieces next to each other, I thought
: that was just the Toyota shaft cut in
: two. Now I realize that it is the
: Toyota little front piece and the GT6
: shaft, with the front facing rearward.
:
: So you did in fact cut the slip/splined
: coupling off the GT6 drive shaft. And
: "that's" the answer I was
: looking for.
:
:
:
: I just finished grinding down bolt
: heads so they fit flush in the adapter
: plate; and ground down the ring spacer
: that goes in front of the input bearing
: to within the .019" inch range
: called for in the manual. Of course,
: God forbid Toyota would make these
: available to us - so we have to make
: our own.
:
: I'll also be welding up the input shaft
: interference joint this weekend. That
: "does" scare me, because I
: don't want to introduce any run-out.
: I've damn near memorized your section
: on this!
:
: BTW: Did you use any tricks to measure
: exactly how much of the Toyota
: mount/bracket to cut off in order to
: fit within the chassis rails? Or did
: you just get close and then
: grind-to-fit?
:
: Gonna be a BIG T50 WEEKEND. I'll let
: you know how it goes.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Jim- Sorry, But I'm sort of lost on
: what you call the "slip
: coupling". Is it the sliding tube
: on the shaft that holds the release
: bearing and actuates the pressure
: plate? If so that is still in the stock
: configuration.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Hey Dan,
:
: Time to do the drive shaft this weekend
: (I hope). I must assume that, because
: the Toyota has slip coupling at the
: tranny output, that you flipped the GT6
: drive shaft around and cut off the
: GT6's slip coupling, "IF"
: there was enough length remaining.
:
: Is that what you did, or did you leave
: the GT6's shaft in its original
: orientation?
:
: Thanks! - Jim
:
:
:
:
:
:
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