C4 Driveshaft Advice

[Ranger289]

Hi all,
I'm in the middle of doing a 289 swap on my '98 2wd and have run into a bit of an issue with the driveshaft. The stock aluminum shaft that I have is about 3" too short for the C4 bolted to the motor. Not only that, but the U joints on the transmission yoke are a different size than those on the driveshaft. Does anyone know of a quick fix for an issue like this besides spending the money on a whole new shaft? I'm not averse to going with a steel shaft, but the junkyards up here in Canada aren't exactly overflowing with old cars with C4s.

Any suggestions are appreciated, winter is fast approaching here and working outside isn't very pleasant in -30 C.

 

[prymetime1]

This a standard cab or extended? What's the measurement on your ds? I can check the length on the alum ds I plan on using for my xcab. Have u checked for aerostar ds lengths?

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[Ranger289]

Whoops, missed some relevant information there. It's an XLT extended cab, the driveshaft is 54" weld to weld. I haven't checked Aerostar shafts but there aren't a lot of those left up here. So far I'm thinking I'll try to find an F150 with a 302 in it, should have the right yoke and the right end to fit my factory 8.8". Any reason that wouldn't work?

 

[prymetime1]

Hey bud, so I checked my pics and the alum ds I'm using is about 78 inches. My truck is a 94 xcab with a 302 /c4. The original 2 piece is almost exact length as the alum. I'm pretty sure my ds came from a 98+ xcab so I'm not sure where the difference is coming from. I'll take a closer look this weekend n post back. If u have a local drive shaft shop, they might be able to shorten and modify it for your use.

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[Ranger289]

*Correction: the driveshaft is about 64" eye to eye. Had the wrong driveshaft in mind. I was hoping there was an easy way around this problem but it's looking more and more like I'm gonna have to spend the money on having one shortened.

 

[baddad457]

Hi all,
I'm in the middle of doing a 289 swap on my '98 2wd and have run into a bit of an issue with the driveshaft. The stock aluminum shaft that I have is about 3" too short for the C4 bolted to the motor. Not only that, but the U joints on the transmission yoke are a different size than those on the driveshaft. Does anyone know of a quick fix for an issue like this besides spending the money on a whole new shaft? I'm not averse to going with a steel shaft, but the junkyards up here in Canada aren't exactly overflowing with old cars with C4s.

Any suggestions are appreciated, winter is fast approaching here and working outside isn't very pleasant in -30 C.

Why aren't you using the shaft that came with your truck ? As for different sized U joints, there are "combination" U joints available at the local parts houses to mate yokes and shafts with different sized U joints. If you need a longer shaft try one out of a full size pickup or van and have it cut down to fit.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Why aren't you using the shaft that came with your truck ? As for different sized U joints, there are "combination" U joints available at the local parts houses to mate yokes and shafts with different sized U joints. If you need a longer shaft try one out of a full size pickup or van and have it cut down to fit.

Holy cow he is back!

C4 is a lot shorter than anything put in a Ranger since the C5 days.

I don't particularly recommend it but I had my stock shaft retubed about that much longer than the A4LD driveshaft length. It was like $200 to retube the rear one and $50 to shorten the front one.