ball and trunion drive shaft?

[63dodge440]

went to put my drive shaft in and found the one that came with the car is 2in or so to short, is there a way to convert on over... or iam goint to find a longer shaft and cut to size, and weld the trunion into the new shaft like i do when i shorten a shaft...

 

[Meep-Meep]

First of all I'm sorry (that you have the ball and trunion setup) and second, the easiest way you will convert it to slip yoke is to get the 65 tranny. This is a one year only unit and is the last of the cable shift and first with a slip yoke. I believe this tranny should bolt in and hook up to your existing shift cable. Then get a drive shaft made like for any other car. If you will stay with the original setup you may have problems getting a drive shaft modified unless the shop has a way to attach the ball and trunion flange to the balancing machine.

 

[Slantsixdan]

Changing the transmission is definitely not the easiest way forward. A '65 (lever-operated cable-shift) transmission needs modifications to work with a '64 or earlier pushbutton shifter, but that's beside the point because a driveshaft conversion is easy and routine for any competent driveshaft shop. See here, for example.

 

[63dodge440]

what does that slip yoke come on?

 

[Meep-Meep]

Pretty much any car from 65 on. 66 and later starts the rod shift, and is of course a slip yoke, so you will have to upgrade the entire linkage to make it work, but trannys and parts are easily available. If you want to keep the charm of the push buttons at the expense of retaining the B&T shaft, then find a shop that can deal with the B&T shaft, otherwise do the slip yoke conversion. Adding a slip yoke to the end of the B&T flange (as pointed out above by Dan) is a solution, but I wouldn't put much power through it. And the addition of a drive shaft loop as shown in the link pretty much means I'm not the only one worried about this arrangement.

 

[Slantsixdan]

Adding a slip yoke to the end of the B&T flange (as pointed out above by Dan) is a solution, but I wouldn't put much power through it.

Umwhut? We're talking about parts originally intended for heavy trucks. They hold up just fine. Advising the original poster that he should change the transmission (and the shifter...and the speedometer drive...and...) is silly.

And the addition of a drive shaft loop as shown in the link pretty much means I'm not the only one worried about this arrangement.

Umwhut? Does that mean because I buckle my seat belt when I get in the car, I'm "worried"? No, it means I'm smart and I take sensible precautions against an event that probably won't happen, but would be very bad if it did. C'mon, man, think with that brain o' yours!

 

[Meep-Meep]

Dan, your solution is excellent if he just needs to get down the road and enjoy many trouble free miles for maybe $3-400.00, but me suggesting that he convert to the later slip yoke design is not a terrible idea and is not a new idea either. Sure it will tie up some time and more money, but the end result will be a modern drive line that can take gobs of power if you even just use the 7290 (large) yokes. So think outside the slant 6 box for a minute. Looking at the avatar pic on the OP's post I see a Max Wedge scoop. Could he be looking down the road at installing a healthy big block?

So I ask the questions (because I don't know the answers):

How much force can be put through the non supported external slip yoke? Is it more or less than the modern tranny slip yoke?

Is the unsupported external slip yoke more sensitive to wear over the modern slip yoke, which is supported by the transmission tail shaft? I'm thinking those external splines must be very tight otherwise the drive shaft tube may be subject to run out that is beyond tolerance. In other words non linear failure symptoms where a small amount of spline wear may produce huge run out readings at the shaft tube, thus creating a vibration.

If someone was building a hot 63 Dodge street car from the ground up, and they had both conversion options available, would they use the external slip yoke mod or go with a modern slip yoke tranny and drive shaft?


We all know the reliability and power handling capacity of the modern slip yoke and a conversion to such is not at all ridiculous as you make it to be. My point is to add another option for the OP so he can have all the facts necessary to make an informed decision. The purpose of a discussion forum is to discuss. It's not the Dan is always right forum; or the Alex is always right forum; or the (insert name here) is always right forum.

As always, I enjoy the discussion!

 

[Altered64]

If you decide to convert to a newer tranny, A&A transmissions sells a conversion cable that allows you to keep your pushbottons.
I used it on my 64 and works well.