drive shaft extension!?!?

[offroadLAX]

ok so I lifted my truck with the SOA, TT Twist, Body Lift... and the other day I was mud boggin and my drive shaft slipped out (at the flex point) and hit the ground... I reinstalled it but I was wondering if there is like a drive shaft extension that fits between the differentail and the drive shaft or the transfer casing and the drive shaft? If anyone knows something like this please let me know!!

Thanks

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Ive never heard of a spacer. You will most likely have to get a custom made drive shaft.

 

[corkey]

yeah , never heard of an extension for a driveshaft either,, maybe an f 150 shaft , or a custom one is in order, ,

 

[gmanpaint]

Excursion or Expedition drive shaft maybe? Time to measure and find out what ya need

 

[IZwack]

Get it retubed/lengthened.

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

I had my driveshaft retubed (lengthened), balanced, and repainted for $150.

 

[damarble]

I was going to make spacers at one point, using just 1/4" steel plate and tracing the driveshaft flanges on it. Any thicker and I'd be worried about the bolts doing too much work. 1/4" at each end would give 1/2" more overall and might be just enough. Apparently Yota guys do this a lot.

Before I could do it I found a CV Ranger shaft at the JY that was 5" longer and had a shop cut it down, my total cost shaft+shop was about $80.

Look for a long bed reg and ext cab Ranger shafts, one might be the right length. Short bed ext cab will be too short for a 4 door is all I know. Or an Aerostar maybe? I think it's cheaper to have a longer shaft cut down than the have a shorter shaft completely retubed.

 

[RangerX]

A longbed Ranger shaft would bolt right up, and be ~2" longer.

 

[cmhaah06]

I know this is an older thread but im getting ready to do an soa soon and I was wondering about driveshaft length. I've heard only some driveshafts have to be lengthened. Is this true? What year long bed ranger do I need to keep an eye out for. What about a two wheel drive explorer, would that work?

 

[Baddecision93]

Ranger driveshaft for an Explorer?

A longbed Ranger shaft would bolt right up, and be ~2" longer.

Did my SOA and am in need of a new driveshaft.
Before I spend $200 to get my lengthened and re-balanced, does anyone personally know anyone who has used the Ranger shaft?
I can get a JY one for $100. At this point I need to save $100 if I can but I don't want to spend money just to find out it won't work...
Any suggestions/help/personal anecdotes?

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

spacers for a mustang with a 8.8 live axle work

 

[RangerX]

Did my SOA and am in need of a new driveshaft.
Before I spend $200 to get my lengthened and re-balanced, does anyone personally know anyone who has used the Ranger shaft?

When I posted about the longbed Ranger, I was talking about a rear driveshaft. Are you wanting to know about a front driveshaft? Plenty of guys have done homemade extensions, or fabbed a complete front driveshaft, with no worry of balancing. The thinking is, the front shaft only spins when you're in 4x4, and that's usually always slow enough that balance doesn't matter.

 

[Baddecision93]

When I posted about the longbed Ranger, I was talking about a rear driveshaft. Are you wanting to know about a front driveshaft? Plenty of guys have done homemade extensions, or fabbed a complete front driveshaft, with no worry of balancing. The thinking is, the front shaft only spins when you're in 4x4, and that's usually always slow enough that balance doesn't matter.

Ok, I need a rear driveshaft. He threw me when he mentioned the spacer. I thought that was only for the front but I wasn't entirely sure.
Yes, my rear driveshaft (from the u-joint at the diff to the splined front that slips in the carrier) needs lengthened by an inch or two.
Or replaced by a longer one. This is where I was curious if the Ranger one will indeed be a good replacement.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

i assumed we were talkin rear as well

 

[Baddecision93]

i assumed we were talkin rear as well

Maybe I'm really off then here...do those spacers work for the rear driveshaft? How, exactly? (sorry, just never seen those before)

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

im on my phone so I can't figgur how to copy and paste the image url but go to post #580 iirc (if nnot then 530) in my build thread

 

[RangerX]

I reread your post, and where you mentioned SOA, somehow my brain read it as SAS, that's where I got front driveshaft.

Me-->

 

[Baddecision93]

I reread your post, and where you mentioned SOA, somehow my brain read it as SAS, that's where I got front driveshaft.

Me-->

Ok...I'm easily confused and very new at all this so I just wanted to double check.

So is that spacer the way to go or should I just bite the bullet and spend $200 to get mine lengthened?

Or...can I really swap in a Ranger shaft? I just really want to make sure before I go spending money.