Aluminum driveshaft.....

[jlsparky7]

The driveshafts on my EX are EXTREMELY rusty along with everything else that is within road salt range. Mines a 96 xlt 4 door awd 5.0. My 01 ranger has an aluminum shaft and I would like to put aluminum shafts on the explorer as well.

Do they make aluminum drive shafts for the EX?
Do they make universal drive shafts?
How much do they run?
Do I just need to find a drive shaft that is the same length then get universal u-joints?

Basically just trying to get the ideas running. Not doing this anytime soon just researching.

 

[IZwack]

Do they make aluminum drive shafts for the EX?

I havent heard of anyone making them but any driveshaft place will be able to make you an aluminum one for a price.

Do they make universal drive shafts?

There's no such thing as there are too many variables - length, u-joint, CV vs non-CV, etc...

How much do they run?

If you bring in an existing driveshaft to a shop and get it lengthened (that is retubed and rebalanced), it will usually cost around $100.

Do I just need to find a drive shaft that is the same length then get universal u-joints?

Universal joints come in 'series' in most domestic applications - such as 1310, 1330, 1350, 1410, and so on.. So if you're basing your new driveshaft from an existing driveshaft (that is you'd like to retube it), then make sure the U-joints on the existing driveshaft is correct.

 

[jlsparky7]

Cool. thanks.

Are the ends of the driveshaft part of the u joint?

If I get new u joints and a new driveshaft I dont want the part inbetween to be all rusty.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Contact this vendor: http://www.automotivepartsunlimited.com/

 

[IZwack]

Cool. thanks.

Are the ends of the driveshaft part of the u joint?

If I get new u joints and a new driveshaft I dont want the part inbetween to be all rusty.

The most basic modern (4wd or AWD, not 2wd) driveshaft will have 3 parts excluding the U-joints. At each end are what are called a "weld-in yoke"s and in between the two yokes is the actual tube itself. So to answer your question, no the end of the driveshaft is not part of the U-joint and the two are purchased/manufactured separately although they must be of the same series in order to work properly.

If you are planning to put together an aluminum driveshaft, dont forget that you must find aluminum yokes because welding an aluminum tube to a pair of steel yokes will not work.

Weld-in steel yoke for the 1350-series U-joint:
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=STR-U1670&N=700+115&autoview=sku

 

[Ray Lobato]

I'm gonna thread jack your thread .
Just a quick question. How do they keep the yokes on a carbon fiber tube. I know that they make carbon fiber tubes for drive shafts now, but always wanted to know how it was mated.

 

[inh]

Glue.

Seriously.

 

[IZwack]

Yeah its mostly adhesive but here's some info on the pultrusion process and the history of composite driveshafts : http://www.wtec.org/loyola/polymers/c3_s1.htm

 

[jlsparky7]

Awesome. Thanks for all the info fellas!