Front Driveshaft after SAS

[j_mazala]

Wondering what everyone is running for a front driveshaft on their SAS'd rigs?

I was running a 91-94 Explorer front shaft that I lengthened so that I had about 3/8" buffer of slip left at full stuff. It worked for a bit but pulled apart when the the driverside front drooped under power. The truck has a low pinion dana 44 on leafs with the shackle in the back.

Also I swapped in the flange from the rear of another 1354 t case to the front output to get rid of the CV and run a normal 2 u joint shaft.

Thinking about going to 1330 series u joints while I'm at it because I know I'm going to be getting a custom shaft with a long slip and might as well upgrade the joint while I'm at it and have them match the rear shaft.

Last thing... has anyine had a problem with the shaft hitting the tranny crossmember?


Please feel free to add any input that you can, hopefully someone can get some good tech from this in the future and save themselves a little bit of trial and error

 

[IZwack]

Hows the pinion angle at ride height? The reason I ask is because, if you kept the double-cardan U-joint setup and the pinion angle was set correctly (which requires a different pinion angle than single cardan setups), the driveshaft probably wont pull apart so easily.

 

[rookieshooter]

Thinking about going to 1330 series u joints while I'm at it because I know I'm going to be getting a custom shaft with a long slip and might as well upgrade the joint while I'm at it and have them match the rear shaft.

 

[lounge lizard]

I have a question related to this.

I have a drive shaft out of the front of a 78-79 f-250 for my swap, but can you clock the transfer case on these explorers?

that would be an easier way to help clear the cross member and get a better drive line angle.

 

[IZwack]

No the t-case is not "clockable" - the bolt pattern isnt circularly uniform and equidistant.

 

[j_mazala]

Hows the pinion angle at ride height? The reason I ask is because, if you kept the double-cardan U-joint setup and the pinion angle was set correctly (which requires a different pinion angle than single cardan setups), the driveshaft probably wont pull apart so easily.

Stock Wagoneer 44 with the caster set at 5 degrees and the pinion is pointing up about 9 degrees. I know I should have cut and turned the C's but at the time I wanted to keep the project simple.

The t case front output is pointing up about 5 degrees so the total misalignment is about 14 degrees. This setup worked out decently with the double cardan apart from being under power with the driver front drooped out. The shackle in the back allows the axle to move forward under droop. When doing a forklift flex test the furthest I could get the front shaft to come apart still left 2" of engaged spline. The problem was being under power making the t case torque up and the axle torque down causing the shaft to seperate. This left the last inch or so of spline damaged and the double cardan no longer moved freely by hand being that it was most likely over extended and tweaked.

I realize that the pinion /t case angles are far from ideal for a 2 u joint shaft but I'm not particularly concerned with vibrations at speed because I keep the hubs unlocked and t case in 2wd being locked front and rear.