Heavy duty drive shaft

My rear most drive shaft is taking a beating in the rocks and I need a heavy duty drive shaft. Anyone build their own or buy a tom woods drive shaft?

I'm considering building my own but that may be a bit over my expertise.

What have you guys done for a better drive shaft?

 

You can buy the tubing you need and take your shaft to a local driveshaft shop for them to make it up. Or you can add a traction bar that hangs below your driveshaft to act as a slider.

 

I have called a few driveshaft shops and they're quoting me around $600 to build one. I can get the tom woods for around $400.

Not sure I want to fab and install a traction bar since I'm not sure what my long term plans on the truck are. I may do a complete 1 ton swap down the road or at least chevy 63's.

For now the goal is to build skid plates and install a better drive shaft. The bottom of my truck is taking a beating so short term is under armor.

If I did build a drive shaft I would probably use something like 2.5" x .25" wall dom tubing. I can build the shaft no problem but not sure how precice I can make it and have it balance well.

 

You're talking about the rear driveshaft yes? The tube, unless they've changed it since the 2nd gens, is 3.5" OD. The wall thickness isn't much more than paper though.

Take the driveshaft shop a new piece of 3.5" x 0.25", or whatever thickness you want, and have them retube the longer section of the driveshaft. That shouldn't cost more than $100.

 

I see what you're saying. I'll call around on Monday and get quotes for that. Thanks!

 

The drive shaft can take a beating no reason to replace it but even rock crawling the drive shaft doesn’t get hit all that much. What are you doing?

 

Haha... Well, I'm apparently doing something that my drive shaft doesn't like. Maybe I'm biting more than my Tacoma should chew? Nah... It just needs to be beefed up a bit.

Don't forget that our stock drive shaft is only about .083" thick. That's nothing.

 

Can;t imagine anything out there that would put your driveshaft at risk, not even the Rubicon is a threat

 

I would just buy a spare rear half of the drive shaft and bring it with me.

An upgraded shaft will result in more vibrations, they are thin and light for a reason.

 

When was the last time you took a look at the angle that the drive shaft is at? If you go over a 2-3 foot ledge, the drive shaft will hit before 33" tires will get a bite on the rock to climb.

I'm not saying the drive shaft is in constant danger but every obstacle is different. Sometimes a wheel slips and you fall off your line and something is gonna hit. Maybe a rock slider, maybe a drive shaft. Never know.

Why would something heavier vibrate? As long as it's balanced then weight doesn't matter. Thin and light is only for performance. Same thing as a light weight flywheel. Less rotating mass takes less power to move. In my case, I don't care too much about the power to rotate a heavier drive shaft.

Edit: you can see in this pic, the drive shaft isn't completely tucked out of the way. It is somewhat exposed. Get on funky angles or jagged rocks and it can/will get hit.

 

I candy caned all the shafts on my other Tacoma. It’s nice to have a spare. You can ask them for thicker wall to it doesn’t dent as easily.

 

So he hits the front dropped crossmember before hitting the driveshaft? A DB lift would do nothing to solve this.

 

A shaft slider eh?

 

A drop bracket lift would lower the front crossmember of the truck but change nothing in the rear. No matter how he lifts the front or rear of the truck (other than larger tires to increase actual ground clearance) that portion of the driveshaft will remain pretty much in the same position. The differential height isn’t changed with a lift, just the angle of the shaft into it.

 

Oh you were serious about getting a 6” lift.

 

Tell me again how a drop bracket lift changes the rear axle...by dropping the front crossmember...

The rear lift on most DB kits is a big ass block. The rear axle and differential height is not changed. The change in ground clearance is provided by taller tires, not the lift kit.

 

lifting with leaf springs doesn’t increase rear ground clearance either. It’s exactly the same as using a block. The frame is lifted higher above the rear axle but the axle height is unchanged unless you get bigger tires.

 

It’s called a manpon, helps with the swamp ass.

 

Lol. I’ve never heard that term before. Being in Arizona a manpon would come in handy hahahaha