How to make B2 driveshaft

[country0001]

Original Poster:
country0001
Difficulty: 2 out of 10

Time to install: 3 hours


Disclaimer: The Ranger Station.com, The Ranger Station.com Staff, nor the original poster are responsible for you doing this modification to your vehicle. By doing this modification and following this how-to you, the installer, take full responsibility if anything is damaged or messed up. If you have questions, feel free to PM the original poster or ask in the appropriate section of The Ranger Station.com forums.


Brief Explanation: I recently dicovered that a 1354 front driveshaft looked a lot like one of my B2 driveshafts. So I measured them out, and they were the same.After my wreck , which destroyed my extra driveshaft, I decided to build a new one. Thanks to Ranger SVT and Asdm for having the parts that I needed and SVT for extra advice.



Tools Needed:
Grinder
Hammer
Punch
Needle nose pliers
12mm 12 point socket

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Parts Needed: 1310/1330 u joint
1354 front drive shaft
2-2.75" yoke flanges, Can use 3", depends on application.

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Steps 1:Pull CV shaft.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll85/country0001/ds-1.jpg


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Steps 2:Locate 1354 shaft and remove double cardan.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll85/country0001/ds1-1.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll85/country0001/ds2.jpg
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Steps 3:Cut or grind the center section out evenly so it will accept the u joint.


http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll85/country0001/ds3.jpg
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Install the U joints and the yoke flanges
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll85/country0001/ds4.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll85/country0001/ds5.jpg
Install in truck. These are the 2.75" bolt spacing, some can use the 3" spacing.

Its been a great little driveshaft. I'm even running it with F150 springs in back.
If you were to go to the JY and buy these pieces seperately. It would cost around 150 dollars.

[adsm08]

How is that for vibration at higher speeds though? It seems to me that a single cardan shaft would be prone to vibrations in a B2 because its so short.

[country0001]

I drove it 200 highway miles on Monday. No vibrations. I ran 70 mph the whole time.

[Shran]

I did this exact same thing on my old Bronco II and it worked great with a 6" lift. My pinion angle was slightly high so I did not have any issues with binding u-joints.

[country0001]

I knew this wasn't a new idea. There has been tons of driveshaft questions in the B2 section.

I was shocked that something like this wasn't in the tech library already.

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks for posting.
I seem to learn better from pictures and yours are small. Assuming you're using photobucket, there is an option for the size of the pic when uploading pics to photobucket. It's a sliding scale going from small to medium to large. I usually use medium unless there is lots of detail then I use large.

Richard

[chrwilkins30]

what vehicle would this front shaft come out?

Also what is the flange come from. Do you need one for each end of the shaft.

[Jim Oaks]

Could you please post larger photos? Thanks.

[country0001]

Jim, I tried making the pics bigger. Not sure how. Any help on that would be appreciated.

Chrwilkins. The shaft came from RangerSVT. Not sure other than its a 1354 shaft. The flanges came grime a ranger. SVT sent me one. Bought the other one from the JY.

[country0001]

Still can't make the pics bigger? Not sure what to do?

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Reload your pics up to photobucket. I think its the first pane of the 'bulk up-loader' there is a choice for pic size, choose med. or large. DON'T delete your previous pics as that will screw up ALL your previous link posts. Test for size by posting pic link in the test forum.
Good luck,

Richard

[country0001]

The bulk uploader is taking forever.... but I'm trying.

[4.0B2]

How is that for vibration at higher speeds though? It seems to me that a single cardan shaft would be prone to vibrations in a B2 because its so short.

my shaft is a single cardan and works fine at 75... i don't drive my b2 that fast usually, but have...

mine is a first gen rear explorer 4wd shaft shortened and balanced by a machine shop.

[Jim Oaks]

Still can't make the pics bigger? Not sure what to do?

Did you resize the photos after you took them?

If you took them with a digital camera, just email the original photo image files to jim@therangerstation.com

[country0001]

I sent them to you Jim. Thanks

[country0001]

OK. I figured out how to resize the pics. If the first two are big enough. I'll finish the rest next week.

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I had heard about this trick elsewhere and depending on what front driveshaft you get depends on what you can use it for.

You're going to be looking for the front shaft from an Explorer or a Ranger with a 1354 trans. You can get the flanges from the rear shaft. This mod works for BIIs with an a4ld, FM-146 or M5OD. If you have a TK-4, TK-5 or FM-145, the length will likely be wrong - those require a slightly longer shaft - which you might be able to do by leaving the double cardigan in place and just adding a flange.

Another thing that can be done (provided you can find shafts that both have coarse splines or fine splines) is to swap the front slip joint for a rear one (rears are supposed to be a little longer, IIRC).

For front driveshafts....

FM-145 front shafts are shorter (and thus about perfect for a D-35 front swap) than the front shafts in a FM-146, a4ld, and M5OD.

Front shafts out of a TK4 or C5 equipped Ranger/BII are shorter yet and will work for a D-35 swap in a FM-145 or TK-5 rig.

[country0001]

Pics resized. How's that for everybody.

[country0001]

This is becoming a hot topic again, any more suggestions?

[adsm08]

I'm still skeptical about the drive shaft angles involved here, but the longer you go with this one and not posting any issues the more tempted I get to try this.

[country0001]

I've had no problems with it at highway speeds

[adsm08]

How was the lift in the rear of yours done?Are the stock flat bottom blocks still in place?

[country0001]

Originally I had springs from a 89 F150. I have removed two of the leaves and kept the over load. The wheel opening was right on top of the fender. It have me right at 4" of lift.

[adsm08]

I'm just looking at the angle of your rake and wondering if the way it sits might not straighten the angles a bit.

[country0001]

Even once the front is lifted. It won't change the drive angle. Only a rearlift could do that.

[nutpantz]

this might sound silly,,,
but can i use the front drive shaft from my 1990 b2 to put in the rear?
its should be the 1354 electric shift transfer-case...

(my b2 is 40 miles one way and my wrecker is 40 miles the other way so i cant look this week)

[country0001]

this might sound silly,,,
but can i use the front drive shaft from my 1990 b2 to put in the rear?
its should be the 1354 electric shift transfer-case...

(my b2 is 40 miles one way and my wrecker is 40 miles the other way so i cant look this week)

Measuring is the only true test. If its a 1354, then it is a canidate. But it is not a direct swap