Driveshaft swap

[the_lone_ranger]

I have a '94 Ranger XL, I recently put a skyjacker 6in. lift in and a set of 33's and now i have a vibration when taking off, i know it has the 2 peice rear driveshaft and just wanted to know everything i could find out to do the one peice shaft swap before i dish out $150.00 + for one, i read somewheres that the aluminum ones have a diff. bolt pattern is this right? also i was wondering if the u-joints for a 94 fit the newer driveshaft. Thanks

 

[AllanD]

If you DO NOT have a supercab you already have a "one piece driveshaft"
(the slip joint is ignored, you onlky count the lengths of tubing)

Most of the aluminum one-piece supercab driveshafts have the larger bolt pattern at the front.

ALL of the one-piece shafts aluminum or steel use larger U-joints than
your current two-piece shaft. (presuming you have a supercab)

Do you have a supercab?

AD

 

[the_lone_ranger]

yes i have a super cab, is the proper measurement for the one peice shaft 47"??

 

[4x4junkie]

I seem to remember it was closer to 59", although I would have to check to be sure what the exact measurement was.

The flange-flange distance is no different on the later-model truck that the shaft comes from than on your '94 truck however.

 

[Ranger2]

I am wondering the same I have a 1994 ranger XLT and wanna convert to the single shaft but need to know what all is entailed with that. I need to know which vehicles have the same driveshaft length and if i need to change anything else...i have heard possibly different flange ends. Any info would help.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Look for a 98+ steel shaft from an ext cab 4x4 truck, or you can get one from an 01-05 sport trac 4x4.

Its pretty simple. Remove old drive shaft, remove steady bearing support cross member from frame, install new 1 piece drive shaft and go.

 

[Mac]

More good reading if you haven't already.
Dave
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/June04/offroad.htm

 

[legoms013]

And trim away on the gas tank skid plate....I've trimmed mine 3 times now and its still not enough. I need to just zip off another 1"x10" strip and then it might be ok. And with your amount of lift you may end up needing to address the carrier bearing cross member, as after ~4-5" of lift that driveline will start to rub there.

Here is what I did (I condone copying ideas but do not blame me for anything that goes wrong if you do )

Notice where the paint is peeled off at where it was contacting the 'member:

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

As I said...just remove and discard the crossmember. It is not needed.

 

[-Nathan-]

As I said...just remove and discard the crossmember. It is not needed.

X2 I removed mine long ago when I did my 1 piece swap. Be done with it.

 

[Nater]

I thought I saw in the Tech section something about lowering the carrier bearing back down to remove the vibrations...

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You can try it...I did it for a bit. It was never perfect.

 

[Guilius]

that's only if you want to stick with the two piece garbage. a one piece is much better.

i got a steel one piece from a junkyard and had NO problem getting it in, only to bend it 2 weeks later (gotta love rocks!)

the next one i got, i needed to replace the output yoke on the transfer case. the bolt pattern was bigger...again no biggie swapping this out. it's one big bolt holding the yoke on.

the gastank skidplate however, is another story. you either dont mind it sounding worse than 100 angry babboons scraping their nails on a chalkboard, or you trim it.
it's not suggested to let it rub due to the sparks etc......

 

[legoms013]

I second the gas tank skid plate trimming...it seems like you can't trim enough off from that sucker.

 

[huvik]

I thought the tech section said that the cross member was a structural support and shouldn't be removed?