8.8 swap driveshaft issues

[howlinghuskie]

So i plan to swap in an 8.8 for the 7.5 in my 87 supercab. Ive determained that my driveshaft will not bolt up to the new axle. I cant swap yokes as i believe i have the smaller u joints. I cant do a 1 piece swap as i have an fm145 so the one piece would be to short. I cant afford the $300+ i was quoted to make up a whole new driveshaft. So after some thinking i had the idea of splitting my driveshaft at the slip joint and doing the same with the driveshaft on the 93 the axle is coming out off. Then reassemble with the rear portion of the slip joint off the 93 to the rest of my driveshaft. This would give me the right yoke on the end to bolt to the rear axle and still be the right length for the 5 speed. Would this idea even work? I know i could just drill new wholes but id rather not do that as i more or less want to just bolt in the 8.8

 

[5speedin2.3]

You could buy an adapter u-joint for the rear and call it a day.

 

[howlinghuskie]

i havnt found adapter u joints that go from the 1210 to 1310 at least im pretty sure it has 1210 u joints

 

[howlinghuskie]

yeah i just rough measured and according to what i found online i have 1210 u joints and i need 1310 for the yoke for the 8.8

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I pulled a yoke flange off another driveshaft I had and had a machine shop drill and tap the holes in the pinion flange.

 

[howlinghuskie]

does that do anything to the preload though? id rather not do that if just swapping rear halfs would work. I dont see why it wouldnt work as long as the slip joints are the same size. the rest of the drive shaft is already pieced together so its not like its vibration free or anything

 

[howlinghuskie]

i just had another idea that if the slip yoke part didnt work swap everything from the yoke after the carrier bearing back

 

[randallmain]

if you have the capability, i used 1/2 plate same diameter as 8.8 flange...drilled/tapped holes for 7.5 flange...then laid out hole pattern of 8.8 between those. have had no issues so far.

 

[randallmain]

P.S......all done with hand tools in driveway. not much cheaper than that

 

[howlinghuskie]

i could try that if swapping driveshaft parts doesnt work i know i can get the driveshaft with the axle so ill try swapping and that will get rid of all but one of the tiny u joints

 

[holyford86]

you can swap the small flange onto the 8.8, IIRC they are the same spline and diameter

 

[howlinghuskie]

but would that effect the preload of the pinion?

 

[adsm08]

but would that effect the preload of the pinion?

Not really.

Pinion bearing preload is set initially by tightening the nut down, crushing the sleeve, and jamming the pinion into the inner bearing. As long as you get the pinion nut tight enough putting it back together you will be fine. I usually just set my impact gun to the low setting and run it until it stops. That's somewhere between 150 and 175 ft lbs, depending on how many other air tools are running in the shop. Haven't had a problem with that method yet.

The fact that it is somewhat pressed into the inner bearing holds the preload while you change the flange.

 

[howlinghuskie]

so then it should work if i just swapped my flange on the axle if every thing matches up

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, should be fine. Just torque it down.

And I'm fairly sure the companion flanges swap from 7.5 to 8.8.