[48aero]

I am trying to decide if the drive shaft I've found is a good length for my project. I've got a 4.3 V6 in a 53 Chev pu, behind it is a 700r, followed by a gm 10 bolt.
My buddy had a drive shaft laying around and it fit both ends perfect. However, I'm not sure of how much trans engagement I should have. I know you need some room on the trans side for suspension movement, but I'm not sure how much. Also, how much overall engagement should the drive shaft have on the trans shaft? I hope this is clear, it's hard to describe.

[poncho62]

Put the shaft in at ride height....That is with the rear supported on stands not hanging. With the shaft in place, it should be able to slide in about 3/4-1 inch further. If it does not engage enough, its going to wobble.

[flynbrian48]

Push the yoke in the trans till it bottoms out, pull it out 3/4". If the shaft fits at that, you're OK, any longer or shorter, you need to have it re-tubed. No big deal.

[fast68]

you can change the length shorter a little if it needs to be if you have an old arc welder laying around. take grinder and grind down the weld around the yoke at the end of the tube and grind just the weld down until the yoke pops off the end of the tube

put a hose clamp around the tube where it needs to be cut and trace it with a tool that will scratch it good and then cut it off there and then pop the yoke back onto the tube real good and arc weld around it a couple or three times real good.

this is what i do when i need to cut a couple inches or so off the length of one

did it a couple months ago on a 1989 full size gmc van shaft for my 1991 s-10 2wd pickup so i could eliminate the two piece shaft because it was bent daamaged and wobbling bad due to frozen u joints
im about to cut down another one from the 78 chevy pickup i just got so i can run a 3L80HD trans in place of the dead original th350 9" tail because the 3L80HD is 34.5" long overall., 3" longer than the th350

just make sure you put the yoke in the same phase as it was originally so that the same u joint cap holes are aligned still.

and all will be fine

my s-10 has been doing great i tried to break the welds with launches and it wont and it drives smooth now yay


i used to be afraid of the idea of cutting and welding a shaft but actually its realy easy and works great

everytime i junk scrap cut up a vehicle for the shredder i save the shaft from it, they come in handy and have many times over the years!

you want the slip yoke to side into the end of the trans about 3/4 or 2/3 of the way

you can usually see the seal wear pattern line area on the yoke where it should be, and was at all its life, in which will be correct placement.
clean metal where its been inside the tail, vs. rusty metal thats not been inside the trans.


good luck

[Aussie41]

G'day,
seeing that i am getting a tail shaft made at the moment, i ducked out to the shed and took this photo for ya
here's a pic of my 727 torque/flite slip yoke, you can clearly see how far in the yoke goes in, leaving a just over an inch travel,
my tail shaft in my 41 willys is going to be very short seeing that the 727's are so long.
hope this helps a bit

[poncho62]

Originally Posted by fast68

you can change the length shorter a little if it needs to be if you have an old arc welder laying around. take grinder and grind down the weld around the yoke at the end of the tube and grind just the weld down until the yoke pops off the end of the tube

put a hose clamp around the tube where it needs to be cut and trace it with a tool that will scratch it good and then cut it off there and then pop the yoke back onto the tube real good and arc weld around it a couple or three times real good.

this is what i do when i need to cut a couple inches or so off the length of one



good luck

That's fine as long as it stays in balance.......I guess making sure the yoke is not rotated on the tub at all helps and that the tube is cut square......