nipper Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 i have been looking at this very closely and found a source of parts to build 2 axles for around 180 bucks. splined shaft,u-joint style.you see, you can buy drive shaft parts cheap.and they are designed for high speed so why not transfer over to axles. and i have never seen square DOM.DOM stands for drawn over mandrel.i do not think you can do that with square tube.i may be wrong,but i have been looking at and buying metal for the last couple of weeks. anyways,with wide and offset u-joints high travel is a possibility.........think 930 porsche type.... you can buy the slip joints for about 43$ apiece,and the yoke ends and flange ends are about 8-12$ apiece.cutting the splined section off of the axle cups will be the trick,then weld the flange yokes to them. a guy can do it at home rather cheap,and with u-joints there is a certain amount of forgiveness as to the trueness of the shaft. cheers, brian You have my attention now... nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamCF Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 As for the square shaft. http://www.toyotaoffroad.com/Articles/Projects/Square_Driveline/Square_Driveline.htm Every other rig I've seen out at TSF has one up front. Even when high centered on it on a rock they seem to be bulletproof. Can't see making sized down versions to be much different. Only prob is they do say there can be a vibration problem. But it can be shimmed out. (And most wheelers are usng them as front drivelines, so it's generaly not spinning on the street) Just more food for thought. Another idea to throw into the pot and stir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 i'm sorry , have we met?:)cheers, brain You have my attention now... nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 actually, CF,there is merrit to that link.baccaruda and i did some searching and chatting about it,and for a mostly offroad rig we think it is viable. and it cuts the cost down of just buying the flange and tube yokes,no slip shaft,which by the way was the most expensive......to about 100 bucks give or take 10...... should be interesting to see how miniscule the tubing prices are.i imagine you want to use .250 wall 2 inch tubing for the bigger piece,then use 1.75 tubing for the secondary piece. you could cap the inside piece of tubing and add 1 zirk fitting at the top of the axle,where you know that it will not get destroyed. we may be on to something here people.focus damnit!cheers, brain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 The suare driveline would be great for a purpose built off road rig, we use a similar set up to run the beaters on the grape harvesters at work, so i know they can take a beating... They might vibrate a bit at high speeds though, but for a flexy crawler, i think this might be the cheap/easy solution... Then you just need to get a double u joint or something made up for the wheel end of the axle, and and a single u joint would prolly suffice on the tranny end... Might have to fab steering stops to keep from shattering a U joint or blowing a tranny... -Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Great ideas guys! I would love to see something that could be used on the road as well. Unfortunately out here, unless you travel out of state, there really isn't a lot of since having a rig that is trailered. You really have to have something you can drive on road to go to the trail. So that's what I'd like to see. And obviously it will have to be a little more involved but who knows, maybe just get a little more precise, and go off of what Brain is talking about. Anyways great thoughts and keep 'em coming!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 i am thinking that with the long travel square tube axles, it wouldnt cost too much in materials. the hardest part would be milling and then geting everything ballanced. you would have to cut the stock axle apart, keeping the splined bit at the trans side to weld to the tube, then mill the axle shaft to fit snugly into the tube. add a lot of grease to keep things from binding. i would also add slightly larger tubing sections, like 1-2" long bands at each end of the tubing section to reinforce the tube and keep it from splitting at the corners. also i would add a ring on the original shaft and on the tube section to be able to attach a flexable boot, like what you would see on a steering rack, to keep the grease from washing out and to keep dirt and muck from getting in. bosko, you gotta call me again sometime, we gotta come up with some more crazy ideas, lol. but for now, my luch break is just about over, so i gotta get back to work :-\ have fun guys peace tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 ok,the square tube idea is out the window for me.over the past couple of weeks i have looked at different sizes of squAre tube. there is so much slop that i do not see it being beneficial at all.i also looked at square rod to go inside square tube....but i believe there would be weight restriction. i had talked about a slip yoke section to allow for travel, but there is only a couple that would fit the bill,and at most would have allowed about 4 inches of travel in the axle.which may work due to the arc that the suspension travels in on a stock vehicle.but no for a longer travel ideal. so, i came up with a mix of the two.i was at a drive shaft part ditributor yesterday,i ordered some agricultural drive shaft tube that they utilize for their PTO's and 4WD systems to allow more travel. it is traingular. i also ordered some end flanges as test pieces for the axle cupsplined sections. it appears that the splined section of some axle cups is PRESSED in,and that they are not all one piece.seems that way.i am on a mission to find somone with a huge arbor press this coming week, to see if this is an accurate observation.i looked at several cups last evening and it appears that it is not the case on all of them.but 2 out of 4 have a bevel where the splined section meets the actual cup (wherre the dust cover lives,at the mounting point)....so we will see.it would be cool if that was the case.more options that way. i will get pics as soon as the parts come in. i realize this thread was started for the fronts,but i believe i may be onto something for the rears....i will save my thoughts for the fronts until these are done , as i have some ideas about the fronts.but am unsure. cheers, brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 The limit to our suspension travel in regards to the axles is not axle length. It is CV angle. I don't think making a slip yolk style axle will help that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 you don't think that getting a joint with more operating angle will help? U- joints man, u- joints.i am not just cutting our existing axles up.i am making an entirely different unit. the "travel" I am talking about is mainly found in the downward direction,droop,wheel down type travel.anyways. cheers, brian The limit to our suspension travel in regards to the axles is not axle length. It is CV angle. I don't think making a slip yolk style axle will help that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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