Double cardian fun

[85_Ranger4x4]

Front driveshaft out of a '95 Ranger. Been planning on using it for my '85 mutant. I got it cleaned up today and noticed the ball socket is drier than a popcorn fart and the boot is cracked. Is there a way to grease these things? It feels smooth and tight but is it long for this world (aka worth having shortened and rebalanced?)

I am very tempted to shelve it and just get a regular shaft with a cross on each end...





Doesn't look like it balanced very well for Ford either:

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

AFAIK The double cardan joint allows more "flex". It doubles the amount. So going to a single joint may cause problems too. I was shocked at how much a replacement costs. Up here it was well north of $500.00, then if you get them to install it add a couple hours at $120.00/hr. I found one that looks like yours and am using it for now.

Yours may be rebuildable for much less, it depends on what you have to replace. Go to a driveline shop and ask questions.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The factory driveshaft I took out of the truck just had two crosses.

I really have never had any complaints with it other than it having a slip yoke for the t-case which will not work with my current t-case.

 

[lvwill]

I recently had a bad ball and socket in my rear drive shaft. Called the local drive shaft shop and just bought a new socket yolk assembly. They charged about 60 for the part and it was basically just changing u-joints with a new yolk. The part # is Spicer 211229x. That's for the rear shaft I don't know if the front is the same or not but a shop should be able to get it for you.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I rebuilt my entire double cardan shaft myself. Pretty easy job. The parts can be sourced pretty cheap online with some careful measuring.




GB

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I recently had a bad ball and socket in my rear drive shaft. Called the local drive shaft shop and just bought a new socket yolk assembly. They charged about 60 for the part and it was basically just changing u-joints with a new yolk. The part # is Spicer 211229x. That's for the rear shaft I don't know if the front is the same or not but a shop should be able to get it for you.

That is for a flange mount, mine gets bolted to a yoke on my NP205. $60 from Denny's Driveshaft though. Its kinda weird looking and without seeing one put together I don't know what else would be needed.

https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p2...jeep_double_cardan_cv_flange_yoke_1310_s.html

I think for what I need the one part is $25 and the other is $45.

https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p9..._double_cardan_cv_h_yoke_1310_series_for.html

https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p4...greaseable_cv_centering_yoke_for_jeep_wi.html

Or for $25 I go get a front driveshaft out of pretty much any fullsize truck, throw two $10 Spicer crosses in it from Rockauto and call it good.

 

[4x4junkie]

I had one of those checked & rebalanced at a local driveline shop... Mine too had that center seal boot cracked. They said it was a non-issue because other seals already seal around the ball and the centering pin (which are not visible if the joint is assembled).

I ran with it, and so far it's been OK (this was about 6 years and 30K very dusty miles ago).

IMO, if you have a lot of angle on the front joint at the t-case, stick with the double-cardan style. As mentioned earlier, a single-cardan joint isn't near as smooth at the same angles as a double-cardan would be.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Hit the JY yesterday to do some investigating.

All the later TTB (second gen and newer) RBV's I crawled under had the double cardian shaft. Every one of them had a cracked boot. Some had visible grease around the boot and some didn't.

I got to thinking, why does every fullsize have a single? After some pondering near as I can tell with a longer powertrain the driveshaft angle wouldn't be as severe. And the crosses are bigger from 1980 and newer so I can't just go grab a fullsize shaft anyway.

I did size up a rear shaft from an Explorer Sport which was very tempting... I like the smaller dia front shaft that I have for exhaust clearance though.

Front suspension on my truck is stock, NP205 has a lot of dropdown, driveline angle doesn't look too weird with no shaft in it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

My '97 F350 with a BW 4407 T case has a dual cardan front shaft... changed all 3 joints a few months ago... If the ball where that seal is is like that shaft, there isn't anything real important there, like Junkie said that's just to keep the big stuff out, I'm not sure the F350 even had that boot in place anymore...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My '97 F350 with a BW 4407 T case has a dual cardan front shaft... changed all 3 joints a few months ago... If the ball where that seal is is like that shaft, there isn't anything real important there, like Junkie said that's just to keep the big stuff out, I'm not sure the F350 even had that boot in place anymore...

My '02 F-150 has singles.

After I saw everything '80+ had 1330 joints instead of the 1310's I need for both my t-case and axle I deemed fullsizes not worth crawling in the mud to look at.

 

[scotts90ranger]

On SLA front suspension like a '02 F150 that's a whole different animal, the driveline angle in the front never moves, if it does there's something VERY wrong... . They don't need the driveline to move during suspension travel so it gets much simpler. I'm running a 4406 transfer case in my Explorer, had to put in a conversion U joint from 1330 to 1310 at the front diff, 4.6L front shaft bolted up. Front driveline will change to something more complicated possibly when it goes full width hopefully a year from now...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

On SLA front suspension like a '02 F150 that's a whole different animal, the driveline angle in the front never moves, if it does there's something VERY wrong... . They don't need the driveline to move during suspension travel so it gets much simpler. I'm running a 4406 transfer case in my Explorer, had to put in a conversion U joint from 1330 to 1310 at the front diff, 4.6L front shaft bolted up. Front driveline will change to something more complicated possibly when it goes full width hopefully a year from now...

I thought about that, with a CAD it isn't like you can run down the interstate with the hubs locked in either. And then there is the '98-11 Ranger that also has SLA but has a funky CV joint thing on the t-case end of the driveshaft...

This is what my truck left the factory with:



Anyway, since they are rebuildable and mine feels smooth I think "the best" option at the end of the day is to just stay with the double cardian.

 

[bobbywalter]

for your truck a single is better.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

for your truck a single is better.

Why is that?

I am waiting until I get the D35 put in before I really do anything so I know for sure on the length. Right now I need a 27" long shaft, should lose an inch to an inch and a half for the D35.

But in the meanwhile if I see a truck in the JY someone has nabbed the trans out of the driveshaft is easy pickings...