Driveshaft damage

[oldgasser]

I recently broke both U-joints at the track leaving hard , it's a stick . The drive shaft was contained in the drive shaft loops. I plan on upgrading the u-joints , looking for the best way to tell if drive shaft is straight enough to use . Any thoughts are appreciated .

 

[benno440]

best way is to a machinist to put on a balancing beam or a lathe with a dial indicator,
other way is to find some flat concrete and roll it on the floor if it doesnt roll properly or jumps then it is bent, IMO it probably not bent but it could be twisted as it is pretty hard to bend a driveshaft ( i think ).

 

[65 Plymouth Satellite 426]

You Will Probably Pay In The Neighborhood Of $200.00 To A Machine Shop To Have It Totally Retubed! I Did!

 

[Greg Ducato]

IMO It is well worth the money to retube this shaft especially if you are racing. I don't know if this is the original shaft, but if it is, the walls can get very thin over time, they only start out at around .060 to begin with, I wouldn't gamble with this.

 

[Supershafts]

See a DRIVELINE shop, not a machinist unless they are a driveline shop or you'll have a unbalanced shaft and that will be worse...

IN most cases if the joint broke as you side stepped the clutch and the front joint broke you may have done nothing bad at all.

If you broke the rear joint and let it flop around it might just need balancing.
Any real dents that are easily seen and felt can be a issue for a new shaft.

Unless it was a hemi car or 6pk car the detroit shafts were all swedge style tube and re-tubing that will mean you'll have a weaker shaft since the weld yokes are smaller and detroit was famous for using non standard tubes, even the hemi and 6pk shafts, they'll most likely be 3.250 and not 2.75, 3.0 or 3.5 standards

 

[oldgasser]

Thanks for your help

First I would like to thank everyone that replied to my post , your help is great ! A bit more info it is a 440 .055 over 850 holley cam Howards hydraulic .522 intake and .555 exhaust reworked 915 steel heads Ross racing pistons compression 11:1 headers in a 1965 Satellite 4 speed 3:73 gear Dana 60 rear sticky mickey thompson ET street drag radials 255/60 R 15 , best run 13.167 at 100.75 mph .Second time at the track . Looking to get back soon .

 

[shag766]

See a DRIVELINE shop, not a machinist unless they are a driveline shop or you'll have a unbalanced shaft and that will be worse...

IN most cases if the joint broke as you side stepped the clutch and the front joint broke you may have done nothing bad at all.

If you broke the rear joint and let it flop around it might just need balancing.
Any real dents that are easily seen and felt can be a issue for a new shaft.

Unless it was a hemi car or 6pk car the detroit shafts were all swedge style tube and re-tubing that will mean you'll have a weaker shaft since the weld yokes are smaller and detroit was famous for using non standard tubes, even the hemi and 6pk shafts, they'll most likely be 3.250 and not 2.75, 3.0 or 3.5 standards

i have been down this road twice. once with a car and once with a tandem truck that i had stretched out. the machine shop built the 2 shafts but they still had to go to a shaft shop for balance. the last one i had done i took right to a shaft shop and it was cheaper in the long run.:headbang:

 

[Cranky]

People actually side step their clutch? Why? Man, if you want to break stuff, that's a good way to do it.....

 

[Supershafts]

If you want to break stuff having a manual will always be the reason it did