Aluminum 1 piece drive shaft?

[Rabid83]

Does the aluminum 1 piece driveshaft out of a 2 wheel drive ranger have as much strength as the steel ones? I also noticed in the tech section that the aluminum shafts are bigger. Does this pose any problems with clearance issues other than what was already posted in the tech section on driveshafts?

Thanks

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

The aluminum shaft will rub badly on the gas tank skid plate, the steel one rubs a bit but can be corrected with trimming.

 

[engdept]

The aluminum shaft will rub badly on the gas tank skid plate, the steel one rubs a bit but can be corrected with trimming.

Reread his question; he asked about 2wd, they don't have skid plates

 

[Rabid83]

I need to rephrase. Does the aluminum 2 wheel drive 1 piece drive shaft work in a 4x4?
Also is there any strength issues? If all it takes is trimming and moving the crossmember than no biggie. If its to big and rubs the tank than thats a biggie. Thanks for the rplies so far.

 

[ranger8800]

I need to rephrase. Does the aluminum 2 wheel drive 1 piece drive shaft work in a 4x4?
Also is there any strength issues? If all it takes is trimming and moving the crossmember than no biggie. If its to big and rubs the tank than thats a biggie. Thanks for the rplies so far.

i personally dont think youll get it to work without taking it too a driveshaft shop. the aluminum one piece in my 2wd 2000 has the male slip yoke connected right to the trans end of it, and my 4wd 88 has a bolt flange off the back of the transfer case. but about the rubbing i dont think you would have a problem

 

[Rabid83]

Thanks bro. I will find out tomorrow I guess when I crawl under it to see. I do think that the adapter can be swapt from the 4x4 tranfer case to the aluminum driveshaft. Let me know if you know. Are the u-joints the same size?

Thanks again.

 

[Rabid83]

I tend to type like everyone knows what im talking about sometimes and I need to be a lil more descriptive. I believe that the adpter to the transfer case can be swapped to the driveline u-joint on the 2x model driveshaft. Any help would be useful. I am going to look at a 2x model tomorrow and I guess i will know soon enough.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Reread his question; he asked about 2wd, they don't have skid plates

I did read his question....he said FROM a 2wd, not putting it onto a 2wd....


As far as I know you should be able to swap the slip yoke section of the 2wd drive shaft for the 4x4 flange.

 

[engdept]

Sorry, since he didn't specify, I assumed he knew a 2wd and 4wd shaft was different.

I do believe you can swap the slip yoke portion to a flange. The 2wd drive shaft isn't a bolt in however.

 

[4x4junkie]

There is no slipyoke on a 2WD shaft (it's on the transmission). It's not going to work in a 4WD application at all.

 

[Rabid83]

Thanks for all the info. I stopped by to look at a 2x model shaft and its 5" longer than a 4x shaft without a slip yoke like just posted. Low and behold the guy had a bedfull of shafts and I eneded up getting a steel 1 piece for 30.00. From my rough measurements the 4x4 shaft is 61" and the 2x is 66", again without slipyoke. Hope that helps anyone in the future.