Dana 28 to Dana 35 driveshaft question

[alabamaranger]

I looked but might have missed it. We picked up our Dana 35 today for a 84 Ranger. The question that I have is the front driveshaft. The Dana 28 has a flange (dana 28 yoke) and the transfer case has a slip yoke. The exployer driveshaft has a flange to flange. I really don't want to swap the transfer case out. What has everyone done to keep the existing transfer case?

 

[4x4junkie]

Use the stock '84 driveshaft. You will need to have it shortened 1" however due to the D35's longer pinion.

 

[alabamaranger]

I looked at Autozone and Advance, they show a different U-Joint in the front driveshaft for a 84 Ranger and a 92 Exployer. I looked at a 86 BII / Ranger and it shows the same as the Exployer. Could it be that a 83-84 front driveshaft u-joint is different then a 85 and up?

 

[martin]

measure the joints yourself, the parts books are sometimes wrong.

 

[BeaterMan]

when i did this swap in my 85' i was able to reuse the old drive shaft without shortening it and it still has about 1/2 of travel in the splines and i've had no issues with it. i will say that my dshaft appears that the yolk had been cut off and rewelded at some point.

 

[4x4junkie]

I looked at Autozone and Advance, they show a different U-Joint in the front driveshaft for a 84 Ranger and a 92 Exployer. I looked at a 86 BII / Ranger and it shows the same as the Exployer. Could it be that a 83-84 front driveshaft u-joint is different then a 85 and up?

If that happens to be the case, then look for a '85-'89 front shaft and have that one shortened to fit yours with the D35. You'll need to measure yours for reference though as the shaft lengths do vary between years. You'll want to make sure that it's shortened to 1" less than your original stock one.