1987 driveshaft swap with FM145/toyo koygo 5

[brownbow22]

so after I bought the 1999 ford ranger one piece drive shaft I learned that the transmission I have is roughly two inches shorter than the M5oD-R1 which is the typical tranny that accepts the straight swap.. does anyone have information on a bolt on one piece drive shaft for FM145.. or should I just get the two piece shaft re tubed to lengthen it??

 

[4x4junkie]

If you are going to lengthen a shaft to fit, I'd suggest lengthen the one-piece '99 shaft (your two-piece shaft may not be of sufficient diameter to lengthen it into a one-piece and have it be reliable).
Another option might be to try to find a shaft from another vehicle such as a F-150 that you can shorten to fit.

If it were mine, I'd probably just swap in the M5OD-R1 trans. The FM145 can be problematic due to the ball-bearing design it uses (the M5OD has taper roller bearings). They're fairly plentiful in 4.0L trucks 1990-2000 and should fit yours assuming you have the 2.9L. Of course this would also necessitate needing to grab another front driveshaft at the same time (one from a 1988-1989 FM146 or 1985-1989 A4LD truck should fit yours after the M5OD is in place).