Why don't you make your own? I believe from previous post you can weld and fab. I have never paid anyone to make a driveshaft for me. The front one is alot easier to eyeball and not as important to get 100% perfect. 200$ sounds about right to lengthen one. They usually want about 150$ to $200 for longer and $50-$100 to go shorter.

 

shoot, I just had my local machine shop shorten my shaft and put a new slip yoke in it, and they charged me a whopping 80$.. I have had alot of work done there, adn they know me... I had another one lengthened in pa for 60$..
That seems like alot to me.. I'd look around.

JR
"Some People Live An Entire Lifetime And Wonder If They Have Ever Made A Difference, But The Marines Don't Have That Problem" R. Regan

 

mine cost $45 witn new u-joints

brownbagg

 

The place I go to charges me $10 per weld plus $1 inch for tube. To lengthen the have to make 1/2 of the driveshaft new. So 2 welds plus 180 inches of tube = $200. Just how long were you looking to make that thing anyhow. For those in So. Cal., I believe in these guys 100%.http://www.driveshaftsonly.com Now that I live here I use them for every shaft I need. When I was in Utah I used Six States and/or Tom Wood, these guys are just as good.

My other car is a bulldozer!

 

Since I went SOA the front is close to bottoming out. Only about 1/2 inch travel left and is wobbling. I also have a front Lock-Right so it is always turning and I drive to the trails so balancing would be important I think. I did find another (albeit shorter) wrangler front shaft in the yard today. Maybe if they let go of it cheap enough I could make my own. What would it take? Cut a piece out of that one and split the current shaft and insert the extention and weld it? I've never made one so I don't know the specifics. But I'm willing to learn so fill me in.

'91 YJ w/stuff, http://members.home.net/t.molnar

 

I take it that you don't have locking hubs or you are running a full time t-case? Otherwise your front shaft should not turn if you are in 2wd with the hubs unlocked. I always just get a piece of pipe that has a inside diameter slightly larger than the OD of the shaft. The tighter the better. If you can't slide it in and out without a hammer tap then it will be really easy to get straight. Balancing a shaft is overated . I make my own rear shafts. The fastest I have ever had my Jeep was 62 mph on the highway (GPS Speedo) and it was as fast as I wanted to go. I didn't notice any vibration but between the noise from the headers and the wind rushing by I might not have noticed I would probably have my rear shaft made if I was going to drive on pavement alot.
As far as the front you have to ask yourself how fast you are going to drive with it turning. If it's faster than 35 mph I would probably recomend having it done right. Under that make it yourself. If you don't get it straight (spot it up first and look it over from all angles and hold it at different positions and have someone else eyeball it from a distance) grind off the welds and try again.

-Steve

Duct Tape is like the force...
It has a light side and a dark side
and it holds the universe together

 

it always alot cheaper to get a shaft shortened than made longer (driveshaft tubing is expensive, i've never heard it cost $1 a foot myself, but driveshaft tubing does come in different thickness's) also the machine that balances shafts is very expensive to own, thats why theres not that many shop building them. i think it's a good idea to find alonger one in good shape and have it shortend.

fyi, yj's bend the front shaft often for 1 of 2 reasons. like you mentioned, "bottoming out" will do it, and when suspension droops it will contact the skidplate.

3/4tonYJ

http://www.geocities.com/yj3qtr_ton

 

We always used the same fixture that pipe welders use to make their welds when joining two pipes together to make all our shafts, hope this helps out.

Fluke

 

You might want to consider adding a CV joint on the TC end of your front drive shaft.
That would solve the problem of lengthening your shaft ... heck it may just make your shaft length just right!
And it will eliminate any vibe problems at the same time.
After the NV4500 install in my CJ-7 the angles didn't look TOO bad...
My pumpkin was pointing up just a little, my TC yoke was pointing up a just a little, and there wasn't a discernable offset laterally.
But Jim Peterson, our local Farmington drive train specialist, said "CV it" and so we did.
I built "The Princess" keeping in mind to do well both on and off road and I've gotta tell ya that CVing the front shaft was just the ticket!
There were plenty of times on our trip to Ouray and Telluride this summer when my wife and I hit long stretches of dirt on those winding roads while still in FWD and at a pretty good clip ... all without a hint of vibration. Sweet! /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

JAF
http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep

 

$200 does sound a little expensive, I had my rear shaft made from scratch(no donor for the yokes) for $250. That included the larger 1330 slip yoke(the longest travle slip yoke they had in that size also)/new ujoints/the new yoke for the 8.8 to take the 1330/and u bolts for the TC output. My Shaft was 22.5" running length. I would look around for a different driveline shop or pirate a longer shaft from a different vehicle(mabey a cherokee or grand) and have it shortened as someone has already mentioned.

5.0s and 4 speed = lots of broken parts!!!

 

Around here most machine shops charge 30 to 40 for a cut and weld. So to shorten a rear its usually 35 and to lengthen one its 60 to 80 plus material. My machinest got both of mine within .005 and there is no vibration, no need to balance. I think its about 40 if you want to balance. later ken

 

Well I guess when you live close to a big city where people have money everything is going to be rip-off priced. I found another front YJ shaft in the yard and also some cherokee CV shafts so I'll see if I can get a good deal on those to make a CV front shaft out of. Problem is I set the angle on the SOA the same as it was before which is not good for a CV setup as the pinion should point to the tcase end. But I guess if I get the parts cheap enough I'll give it a try. My front YJ D30 doesn't have hubs, it has the vac disconnect and a Lock-Right in it so the shaft turns even in 2wd at all speeds. It wasn't an issue before the SOA but now that it's all strached out it could be trouble.

'91 YJ w/stuff, http://members.home.net/t.molnar

 

I shortened my rear and lengthened my front using the precise technique outlined above...use a piece of tubing that will just barely fit inside the old driveshaft.
1. Scribe a straight line all the way down the driveshaft so that you can keep everything in line properly.
2. Cut the driveshaft tube into 2 pieces...about 1/2 way between where the slip yoke ends and the other u-joint on the shaft is welded on. Seperate the 2 pieces.
3. Measure piece of tubing so that it is long enough to make your driveshaft the proper length. On mine, I made it to fit inside both ends of the driveshaft tubing about 2" on each side.
4. Scribe a straight line on your tube
5. Align the marks scribed on the tube with the marks on the two pieces. Use a hammer to tap the old driveshaft ends on the tube.
6. Tack weld the ends of the tube on when you are satisfied with the scribed mark alignment.
7. Have someone work with you and carefully turn the driveshaft assembly as you weld. Weld it in one continuous, even weld. Make a second pass if neccesary, but keep the weld VERY EVEN!!! (It helps a great deal to have the second person be a welder as well, wearing a welding helmet, so they can watch and keep their speed both consistent and appropriate to the weld you're creating.)
8. Weld the other side.
9. Let the tube and welded assembly cool naturally...do not chill it or anything!
10. Reinstall and test for vibes.

If worst comes to worst, you can take it to a driveshaft shop and have 'em balance it for you for the $30-40 fee. But I've had my jeep up to 85mph on the highway, and haven't had any real problems yet. A slight vibe at one speed, but it isn't severe, and it goes away at higher or lower speeds. I attribute the vibe more to a U-joint angularity problem than a problem with balancing...The angle on the u's is pretty severe. A CV shaft is in the works for me...when I figure out if I'm staying SUA (a la 3/4ton YJ) or going SOA (a la everyone and their brother).

Moneyless, Will weld for jeep accessories.

 

It should be double the normal rate for you. You don't deserve any better. HA ha ha ha. Give me a call in Control Center tomorrow. You know who it is.

 

Allright mistery person. Come on out of the dark! /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

'91 YJ w/stuff, http://members.home.net/t.molnar

 

kutyafal,

Give Tom Wood of Tom Woods Driveshaft a call...i dont have the number handy, but do a search and you'll find it easily. He makes most of the custom driveshafts for the trucks you see in 4WOR and 4Wheeler. My roommate needed a driveshaft for the front of his CJ-5. Hes got 6" custom Alcan springs, a J-Truck D44, 36" swampers, detroit lockers front and rear, and a shackle reversal. Powered by a built 304. It was wednesday, and we NEEDED the shaft for friday afternoon. I suggested he give this "Tom Woods" a call. He was on the phone for a few minutes, went outside with a tape measure for a minute, came back in, gave a credit card number, and hung up. This was about 4pm on wednesday afternoon. about 9am friday morning, the Fed Ex man was a knockin'. He had our shaft! Tom stayed late, built a CUSTOM LONG TRAVEL driveshaft, and shippe3d it to us FedEx Overnight for what it cost him to ship. Needless to say, the shaft is perfect, performs flawlessly, no matter how hard it gets abused. Tom's price for the shaft was VERY reasonable, even less than the local driveline schmuck. I recommend Tom Woods driveshafts to everyon i know for he went out of his way to hel us in a time of need, and didnt even charge us an extra dime. Thats SERVICE in my book. and that concludes my 2 cents.

-mike

Give me Jeep or Give me Death!!!

(Will trade functioning organs for CJ-7 or flatfender)

 

Ha ha ha. I'm an old buddy of kens. I just dropped in on the site to see what's up. I don't have a Jeep but I've been a motorhead for years. Ken and I talked a lot about what he was doing and his engine combination that he was going with. My thing is 2 wheels mostly. Got a speed jones and it cost a lot less to do it on two wheels than it does on 4.

Good forum you guys got here.

 

hahahaha whats up dude? spending some time on the ole bbs eh? I told you ought to sell that turbo hyabusa and get a real toy.....a jeep!!!!!!!!! I know where that 78 sits, you could pick it up for cheap and start work! later ken