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240 LSx swap Driveshaft 1 piece vs OEM 2 piece

Eviltwin

New member
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Location
Ottawa Ontario Canada
...
so I pulled out the 2 piece driveshaft from my 240 wagon today, and colour me unimpressed.

maybe a 2" OD, hollow..mild steel? and the u-joints looks like a rubics cube could withstand more power.

I'm tempted to simply get a 1 piece driveshaft made, which would couple with my 4l60e trans.
Has anyone done this, AND maintained the 2 degree pinion angle?


or ALTERNATIVELY, stuck it out with the chopsticks driveshaft and hailed Mary at every time you launched and went WOT?

-inquiring minds...
 
...
so I pulled out the 2 piece driveshaft from my 240 wagon today, and colour me unimpressed.

maybe a 2" OD, hollow..mild steel? and the u-joints looks like a rubics cube could withstand more power.

I'm tempted to simply get a 1 piece driveshaft made, which would couple with my 4l60e trans.
Has anyone done this, AND maintained the 2 degree pinion angle?


or ALTERNATIVELY, stuck it out with the chopsticks driveshaft and hailed Mary at every time you launched and went WOT?

-inquiring minds...
..


Im using two piece drivelines in two of my 4l60e lsx 240s. Gave the driveline shop the volvo driveline and the slip yoke for the 4l60e. the center support bearing im using is a spicer semi trruck bearing that is the same size as the volvo. been running this setup for 10k miles and no problems.
 
Some folks can't get a single to not vibrate to save their lives, even after sending it off to be balanced, etc. Some have had 0 issues. 2 piece would be a bit more forgiving on vibrations. Never heard of anyone breaking a two piece, bit I'm sure someone has.
 
I was planning on having a 2-pc made for my swap (turbo LSX>Nissan CD009>Ford 8.8).

I've been using a 1-pc behind my 16VT>T5>Volvo drivetrain, and I've had some issues with vibrations and it hitting the back end of the tunnel in some situations (on the throttle, going over a bump, SCRAPE). For higher HP and for the longer lenth, you need to go up in size, and the angles just don't work out all that well with a 1-pc and the size of the trans tunnel.

The vibrations were BAD when I had some IPD torque rods on it with poly bushings, nothing seemed to help, I tried to fine-tune the pinion and trans angles, finally in frustration I even set them as far 'wrong' as I could just to see if it made any noticeable difference, it didn't. Swapping back to stock rubber torque rods from a junkyard cured it.
 
One piece, 3" and be done. I've run 0-4 degrees of pinion angle in various cars. Coil cars are way more forgiving. You have a v8 performance car now. The car it is in and what it had means nothing. THe driveline does. Run a 1 piece.
 
Some folks can't get a single to not vibrate to save their lives, even after sending it off to be balanced, etc. Some have had 0 issues. 2 piece would be a bit more forgiving on vibrations. Never heard of anyone breaking a two piece, bit I'm sure someone has.

Roger-Dee did break one when launching at the drag strip once... It twisted like a pretzel and then snapped in two.
 
He's talking about an LSX too. He'll make at least 500hp with that engine and that is without even trying. A 2" shaft with ujoints in the center is asking for trouble.
 
Blow a little air into it...

And I was not going with a stock 2" 2-pc, I was pondering a 3" sturdy 2-pc, just to make the clearance better at the back end of the tunnel.

I currently have a roughly 1.5" tall spacer on that differential nose bump stop to stop the 1-pc driveshaft I have now from rubbing when the throttle is on over bumps.
 
I'm a +t and T5 person in a 245 rn. I have a 3.5" summit racing ford mustang DS. It's one piece aluminum. It's great other than kiiiiiiiind of not fitting lol. I actually ended up lowering my trans cross member about a quarter inch more than it was originally. Still get a bit of rubbing on hard turns.

But it's real smooth.
 
He said he is using an LSX, not a truck engine.

The LSX is a cast iron version of the LS7.R.

LS<b>x</b>

the critical part there is the little x. as in: "I'm swapping in an LS based engine" for you nitpicky purists that don't actually own an LSX but love to circlejerk at the thought of it.

as far as making over 500whp with a truck motor.. mine made 750whp fairly easily.. 2 piece modified stock driveshaft.
 
You have to try to get 500hp out of any LS based truck motor. Try=$$$$

not really.. it doesn't cost cubic dollars to get 500hp out of one, you're basically talking springs, cam, and like a TBSS intake. If you're hung up on 500whp, you add a little squeeze for effect.
 
As far as the OP's question.. it depends. you have a much higher critical speed with a two piece, and you can dial things in a little more easily. Obviously you've added a layer of complexity to it, but I can tell ya on a 240 with a single piece drive shaft capable of holding some stink (3 inch), clearance becomes a bit tricky. on a 700/900, you have the through-chassis part at the back that would also potentially cause problems (but double as a driveshaft loop, so that's cool)

As far as the strength of these items.. I'm using a modified stock driveshaft in the race car (20+psi at launch, around 4-4500 rpms on the stall), no problems with it, even hitting it with a 100 shot of smack. on the v8 car modified stock 940 driveshaft, no problems with it either so far, and it's been in the car for 3 years. It has a very tight converter (too tight), so I haven't really launched it hard, but even still I'm more concerned about the stock rear end than I am the driveshaft twisting up. It's certainly not a problem on the street, the car just spins when it gets up on the pipe
 
..


Im using two piece drivelines in two of my 4l60e lsx 240s. Gave the driveline shop the volvo driveline and the slip yoke for the 4l60e. the center support bearing im using is a spicer semi trruck bearing that is the same size as the volvo. been running this setup for 10k miles and no problems.

I run the same setup, even changed the flange on the other end for my 8.8. currently 345 to the tires with no problems, not planning on changing it when I add the turbo.

It kinda makes more sense than a 1 piece driveshaft on these cars, especially if youre lowered.
 
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