410Fortune - D35 TTB axleshaft rebuild

Okay so as you know my beams are custom with extended track width built in. The passenger side required a custom axleshaft to make up for the increased width built into my beams. The beams are cut and turned near the pivots, so the stock outer shafts are used to the knuckle and only a longer mid shaft (from slip yoke to outer shaft) was required. Well with my ARB locker I do not have the C clip retainer on the passenger side inner shaft (into the diff) so I run a spring in the slip yoke to keep the diff shaft from falling out. This is an old desert trick used by bent beam TTB trucks for years.

Well my slip yoke shaft is fubared, the shaft has come out of the carrier on more then one occassion, as I tested new spring lengths and spraing rates.

So before Moab this year the time had come to replace the slip yoke shaft assembly. I got the new parts from a junk yard for cheap.

Running a spring in the slip yoke requires tack welding of th edust cap to keep it from pushing out, which would be a disaster.

So this AM I got my Hobart mig welder out for the first time since getting it for X mas in 05. I do not have 220V in my garage yet so I had to do the welding in my kitchen, where my stove has a 220V feed.
This was interesting to say the least since I have only welded once before and I had never set up a mig welder before.

It worked great!

Here's the first teaser pics, I now have all the parts I need, the cap welded and its ready to go in.

new shafts, spring, boot and U joint:

My first welds:

I will be tearing the pass side down to the spindle this afternoon and replacing the inner shaft (to the diff) the slip yoke stub shaft and a new spring. should take about 2 hours, this time I am going to remove my coil and cycle the suspension to full droop and full bump to measure for my new spring.
Pictures of the process coming later

 

[cybergasm]

I do not have 220V in my garage yet so I had to do the welding in my kitchen, where my stove has a 220V feed.


hmm and i thought i was the only one that did this kind of stuff

So i take it the house is still standing?

 

[Creager]

Hell yeah dude! What did you do for axle shafts? I though i remember you saying you had moser (?) or dutchman send you a blank dana44 shaft to cut to length, then they resplined for ya..

You didnt need to lengthen the driverside shaft (for the widened beams)? just the passengerside mid-shaft?

EDIT: Wait i see, Brett lengthed the beams before the pivot points not before the third member, so their wouldnt be a length difference between the third member and the driverside knuckle.