drivesahfts

[BammaRedneck]

ok i have 78 to 79 model bronco and i jus bought it well they told me the driveshaft was missing out of it i was wonderin wtall different driveshafts would work i figured the driveshaft out of a 78 to 79 pickup would work to wont it

 

[Broncobill78]

The *front* shaft will work but not the rear. Measure your yoke-to-yoke distance to be sure but many 73-79 F-truck front shafts should match (some may be different since there were some divorced transfer cases in there and the length may be different depending on the transmission used).

If you're missing the rear then only a 78/79 Bronco shaft will work.

 

[aqua_wonder]

I thought some 78-79 Broncos have the double cardigan joint in the front driveshaft.

 

[B-150 Mudder]

I have the front and rear drive shafts from the 79 I am parting out don't know how good they are but if your interested let me know. Thanks

 

[Broncobill78]

I thought some 78-79 Broncos have the double cardigan joint in the front driveshaft.

Double cardan & they all have them. Both shafts have one. The F-trucks don't have one on the rear shaft but their front shafts are the same as the Broncos

Here are the driveshaft pages from the factory manual http://broncozone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12560

 

[aqua_wonder]

Short bed F150's had cardan joints in the rear shaft. My 79 F150 did not have a cardan joint in the front. I seen many other 70's F150 and F250 without the cardan joint in the front shaft.

 

[Broncobill78]

Yup, they did. The whole idea behind the double cardan is that by using two U-joints instead of one you double the acceptable driveline angle. A single U-joint is fine for a standard bed because the wheelbase lets you use a long driveshaft, but the Broncos & shortbeds don't have that much space so the shaft needs to be shorter and runs at a steeper angle. Steeper than a single U-joint can handle so they double up on them to gain more angular clearance. However the shortbed F-trucks & Broncos use different length rear shafts so even among them the front shaft is still the only one that swaps (had to find SOME way of linking this to the original question /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> )

 

[caryt]

I have a front DS all rebuilt with a double cardan off of my 95 F250 don't know ifyou are still looking but PM me if ya need it.

cary

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

The 78 Broncos have the smaller 1310 U-joint rear driveshaft.

The 79's were changed to the larger 1330 U-joints.

So a junk yard shaft will have to be year specific, unless you want to

use a U-joint with both size crosses to mix and match the different years....

 

[caryt]

The 78 Broncos have the smaller 1310 U-joint rear driveshaft.The 79's were changed to the larger 1330 U-joints.

So a junk yard shaft will have to be year specific, unless you want to

use a U-joint with both size crosses to mix and match the different years....

Couldn't you just change the yoke?

Cary

 

[Broncobill78]

Yes, you can and plenty of guys do. It's just that it becomes one of those things that you have to put some thougt into. If you want the larger 1330 then it's best to grab the yoke from the truck you're getting the shaft from, otherwise it's a dealer-only part that runs $80 or so. A dual size U-joint is certainly a cheaper option but not quite as strong. The 1330's *are* larger & stronger than the 1310's but not by a huge margin so you have to weight the options, what will it cost you overall to upgrade ? How much can you get the yoke for compared to what a dual size cross will run ? If you have the old shaft AND the junkyard shaft (assuming they're from different years and have different size U-joints) a shaft shop can swap the pieces around (I like having shops look at, cleanup & rebalance junkyard & swap-meet shafts before I go & install them) so that everything works with the yokes in your truck. OR you can swap yokes, or this or that or whatever /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> There are really a lot of diferent ways to go but if you're paying a shop or guy to do the work that's just another variable to consider. For my money a dual size U-joint is a good way to go right off the bat until you figure out how you want the truck to ultimately be setup. It's a cheap way to buy time to kick around all the various options.