which front/rear drive shafts to buy ??? I've heard of vibration issues on some and not the best quality / durability in others. Any advise would be appreciated as I need to change the front one ASAP I'm considering Coast Driveline & Gear as I don't have to replace any yoke. What do you guys think ???

Thanks

 

I would highly reccomend changing the yokes, I bought a oem jereel replacement , vibrated too bad with the stock flange, I went through one re-built Tcase and then got a whole new one. I changed to a Teraflex w/yokes. Now I have a $500 paperweight. Do it right the first time.

 

thanks mkjeep that was what I wanted to know about the yoke thing !!!

 

yup i replaced the yokes also.. i think that the best way to go

 

You'll get a lot of different viewpoints and advice, but you'll get generally positive feedback with any of the better known names. Coast, Woods, Reel, and I've been seeing positive reviews of the lift mfg's shafts also.

One thing to note on the direct replacement shafts (with adapters instead of yokes) is that the adapters stick out a bit further, causing a bit more of an angle, and possibly contributing to vibration issues. (no real data on this, just talk from various threads...) A positive is that you can keep your stocks for spares.

 

I personally think that the oe replacements may work ok with a stock or slightly lifted(1-2in) but with anything taller its harder to deal with driveline vibs associated with castor correction and having the extra length of the stock flanges.. Installing new yokes (because they are closer to the pinion and tcase output) lessens the angle a double carden shaft is at. Therefore this goes hand in hand with other things that must be done to dial in your rig. JMO though.

 

I hve both front and rear Coast Shafts with the aluminum adaptors and have had no problems with them. I have the OME lift with Daystar spacers both front and rear. I have been able to get the castor set close enough to stock to stop the flighty feel. The folks at coast built my shafts with greaseable joints. I have been running them for over 15,000 miles with no vibrations.

Henry

 

from what I see we have to take into consideration other factors like proper drive shaft angle settings and proper front axle alignment,, but this is the magic of modifying our rigs,, the more we modify the more knowledge involved and the more we learn !!! it reminds me of my Mustang days,, thanks for your replies,, keep it coming !!!

 

i am a fan of woods shafts but this time around i went with a better deal and that was coast. i am very happy with coast and they are american made as well. david at northridge has the best prices on them. coast is considerabley less than woods and i am just as happy.

 

I would have a good quality local shop build you a driveshaft using Teraflex yokes. That way if there are any issues you can go to the local shop to have them addressed, rather than shipping your driveshaft back to some company that is halfway across the country.

I started with a Tom Wood driveshaft, had vibration problems, and then had a new shaft made with Teraflex yokes by a local company, which fixed the vibration issues. Using the Teraflex yokes gave me a driveshaft that was 3/4" longer than the flanged driveshaft. I don't think the extra 3/4" made the difference though, because it was an inbalance and out of trueness issue, and not an angle issue.