TOY: Re: long travel driveshaft comversion?

[Brian Wiencek <bwiencek@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Anyway, I am open to sugegstions on other places I can send this shaft to 
> have it comverted to long travel.  Anyone know who will convert this shaft 
> for less than $150?
> 
> If I can't find it for cheaper, I am gonna learn real fast how to make my own 
> long travel shaft using PTO components from the local tractor supplu company 
> ;-)

Hey - check with your local driveshaft place about looking through their
dana/spicer books of slip-joints.

FWIW I've seen pics of several of the 'long travel' slip joints and they
sure do look like implament stuff.  I guess if you're not spinning the
thing at 6K rpm then a little wobble and/or imbalance isn't going to hurt
- and heck it's a front driveshaft right - for most farm equipment runs at
a 540, 720 or 1020 RPM PTO speed (or real close to that so I'd suspect
that they're tight enough to support about 1500-2000 rpm before vibrating.

I personally would do it yourself if you have a welder accessable... I
took the leap of faith and did my race car's driveshaft and have yet to
have a vibration problem - and all I did was take a grinder, grind the
weld off, use a cutting wheel to get down to the yoke mount and then
popped it off, cut it off square in a chop-saw and then re-inserted the
yoke - it's quite a tight fit that now I know why the local place says
"usually balancing is not necessary - we weld them up to a tight tolerance
that it's not required"

If you can find something compatable with the tubing diameter then you've
got it made (and if he used SAE sized stuff that should be easy!)

- Brian