Square driveshafts?

[GREEN XJ]

Anyone running square driveshafts on their XJ? I'm thinking about doing it b/c my axles have 1350 yoke front and 1410 yoke rear, and I have driveshafts from the truck I got the axles from so I could take my XJ shafts and the Ford shafts along with some sqaure tubing and have my driveshafts. That way I don't have to pay to have custom driveshafts made.

[jmaxj]

done it once before couldn't balance it and if it's a dd then it will vibrate something fierce, but if it's not driven that often go for it.

[GREEN XJ]

Not going to be a dd plus it won't be street legal, but hey who cares I still drive every now and then on th road.

[OT]

Put that thing on a rock and you'd better have a spare.

[ECKSJAY]

Put that thing on a rock and you'd better have a spare.

Not if you're using 1/4" hitch tubing. Fill it with sand and you probably wouldn't have to balance it.

[jmaxj]

Put that thing on a rock and you'd better have a spare.

mine was 3\16 and i never had a problem breaking it or anything like that.

[XJEEPER]

Can you? Sure.......
Is it wise? Define wisdom......

Let us know how it works out.

[OT]

mine was 3\16 and i never had a problem breaking it or anything like that.
You got lucky.
I'm just surprised that the u-joints didn't have a problem with your square tube idea.
Roll a marble across a table, then roll a dice and you tell me which one is a more violent roll.

[jmaxj]

You got lucky.
I'm just surprised that the u-joints didn't have a problem with your square tube idea.
Roll a marble across a table, then roll a dice and you tell me which one is a more violent roll.

it was on a trailer queen so it never seen highway. thats why i asked if his was a DD, i wouldn't have never done it if it had seen highway.

[ECKSJAY]

i wouldn't have never done it if it had seen highway.

How sure are you that it didn't peek when it rode on the trailer?

[Rev Den]

Try and twist a paper towel tube.....now try and twist a open ended box.

There is a reason they are round. As stated earlier...you could...but why?

Rev

[ECKSJAY]

Try and twist a paper towel tube.....now try and twist a open ended box.


If we could put some triangulation on the inside of the tube (cross-bracing, per se) that would give it additional torsional strength.

[Bent]

Put that thing on a rock and you'd better have a spare.

I want $50 on the rock.

:explosion

The higher the RPM and the larger the cross section of the square tube the greater the impact. The tube may hold up just fine, U joints or yokes on the other hand...

[BrettM]

this thread is rediculous.

I've seen tons of these on the trail, they work GREAT! They are indestructable, using 1/4wall hitch tubing you will bend/break the u-joint, yoke, or output shaft before the shaft.

the downsides is they will not balance over 20-30mph and they can be noisy (grease them a lot). If it's for a front shaft, you have selectable hubs, and you don't use 4hi, go for it. Or if it's a trailer queen and it never leaves low range, go for it front and rear.

[Bent]

this thread is rediculous.

I've seen tons of these on the trail, they work GREAT! They are indestructable, using 1/4wall hitch tubing you will bend/break the u-joint, yoke, or output shaft before the shaft.

the downsides is they will not balance over 20-30mph and they can be noisy (grease them a lot). If it's for a front shaft, you have selectable hubs, and you don't use 4hi, go for it. Or if it's a trailer queen and it never leaves low range, go for it front and rear.

Pretty much what everybody else said. Nice recap though.


















:wave:

[BrettM]

Pretty much what everybody else said. Nice recap though.


Actually I count 4 people saying that it's weak, not so. Yes, 2" 1/4 wall round would handle torsional loads better than 2" 1/4 wall square, but the square is still plenty strong for the loads, and will break large rocks (I've seen it).

[RichP]

Saw that on my video this weekend on spike, my question is how well will it slip and how do you grease it consistantly, zerk on each plane ?
Unfinished steel, what happens when it gets wet and you end up with surface rust working in there ?
Cool idea though.

[Roxtar]

Freind of mine has one on his YJ.
This past weekend took it up to 70 mph on the highway with no problems.

[ECKSJAY]

None of our conclusions should be solid until Eagle chimes in.

[Lawn Cher']

None of our conclusions should be solid until Eagle chimes in.

That'll be awhile, I think Mrs Eagle has returned to the nest.

[RichP]

That'll be awhile, I think Mrs Eagle has returned to the nest.

yea :D I notice that too. It's annoying the way wives, PAINTING, home PIA projects cut into web time....

[jmaxj]

How sure are you that it didn't peek when it rode on the trailer?

i put a mask over its eyes so it couldn't :laugh3:

[jode]

There is a reason they are round. As stated earlier...you could...but why?

The main reason is that you control the length of the slip joint. With square tube, the entire length of the overlap is a slip joint. So if you need a long travel driveshaft, you can either pony up the big bucks, or, if it for a non-DD part like a PT front D-shaft, or for a crawler-only rig, then why not use some square tubing and have a super dirt cheap long travel driveshaft?
:arrowr:

[GREEN XJ]

I agree, sqaure is cheaper and if it breaks it not like it would cast anything to fix it. Has anyone put some sort of end on the larger tube to hold in grease, and I plan on drilling and tapping in some grease fittings.

[NotMatt]

Toyota guys have been doing the square front driveshaft thing for years... it's certainly not the most ideal setup if you ever want to go more than 15-25 mph with the front hubs locked in, but it seems like they put them through some abuse and have little problems with breaking or bending... and you can't beat the price for a "long travel" shaft.

The only thing I would be worried about is U-joints at that point, but by my book it's better to break a u-joint and have to replace that then to break the whole shaft and be done wheeling unless you have a spare. Just my 2 cents.

[Bent]

The only thing I would be worried about is U-joints at that point, but by my book it's better to break a u-joint and have to replace that then to break the whole shaft and be done wheeling unless you have a spare. Just my 2 cents.

There is always square bearings and caps w/ full squircle clips to keep the little rectangular buggers in place, The advantage of the square roller bearingsis that if they get worn you can flip 'em 90*. The square caps give you the added cost advantage of building your own yokes out of channel iron.

:wave:

[ashmanjeepxj]

I made a box tube "spare" rear shaft, once I used it its stayed on the rear for about a year now.. I can do about 45-55 not limited to 25MPH. Its a trailered tril rig... Ill eventually fix my good shaft..?

It has vibes at over 45MPH but my tires are equaly a problem at that speed.

It does make the chattering sound every time you leet off on the throttle, that gets anoying, also when your getting it youll hear it chattering a bit...

[Lawn Cher']

There is always square bearings and caps w/ full squircle clips to keep the little rectangular buggers in place, The advantage of the square roller bearingsis that if they get worn you can flip 'em 90*. The square caps give you the added cost advantage of building your own yokes out of channel iron.

:wave:

I used them on some packaging machinery once... but that machine made cardboard boxes.

[xuv-this]

this thread is rediculous.

I've seen tons of these on the trail, they work GREAT! They are indestructable, using 1/4wall hitch tubing you will bend/break the u-joint, yoke, or output shaft before the shaft.

the downsides is they will not balance over 20-30mph and they can be noisy (grease them a lot). If it's for a front shaft, you have selectable hubs, and you don't use 4hi, go for it. Or if it's a trailer queen and it never leaves low range, go for it front and rear. i second that. i've seen TONS of pto shafts built like that (on ujoints). hell, my father has a 5 year old john deere 3 blade bush hog that has all square shafts on it. i know of a driveshaft shop that will balance square pto stuff. the key with higher driveshaft speeds while wheeling is that it has to be balanced good.

[Lawn Cher']

...it has to be balanced good.

Balanced well.

[xuv-this]

Balanced well.yup somtime my grammars aint too good. (lol):paperwork

[Rev Den]

Wow...they really exist...and for some good reasons. Guess I am not to old to learn, I sit..humbled.

Rev

[xuv-this]

if anyone wishes to do some more research on square driveshaft stuff, go to ag/farm stores, stop by a used equipment lot, hell you could probably find stuff on the net, too. :) oh yeah, look under pto or power take off. they can handle lots of torque, but just don't plan on on running them more than a couple thousand rpm.

[OT]

Wow...they really exist...and for some good reasons. Guess I am not to old to learn, I sit..humbled.
Ditto.
I guess I didn't catch on until about halfway through this.

Anyway, here's a good write-up I found.
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~jscarbro/driveshaft.htm

[casa2010]

Not if you're using 1/4" hitch tubing. Fill it with sand and you probably wouldn't have to balance it.

That thing would weigh 50 pounds,,,