Driveshafts

[CheeseSteakJim]

What year driveshafts will fit in an '88 Town Car? I'd like to know when they changed the u-joint sizes. I found a '95 in the junkyard with an aluminum driveshaft.

Failing that, all you need to do is change the pinion flange to match, no? What's involved in doing that?

[mrltd]

they had different u joint sizes and flange sizes all of the years....

[Glen]

The steel and alum. shaft have a different size flange. The alum. is a lot bigger.
To change the pinion flange all you do is take off the center nut and pull the flange off, put the new one back on. Check the torque on the nut before you pull it because it has to be replace at the same amount. You should also replace the pinion seal, the seal is the same for all the 8.8 rear ends. If you old shaft is not bent or broken you don't gain much by going to a alum. shaft.

[CheeseSteakJim]

I am in the middle of a project that'll require either lengthening of an existing driveshaft or a brand new one to be made. I would greatly like to have an aluminum driveshaft under the car for the weight reduction and for the advantage of less rotating mass. I figured I could save some money by buying an aluminum driveshaft out of the junkyard and having it lengthened, no?

they had different u joint sizes and flange sizes all of the years....

...what? Every single year had different u-joints and flanges? Are you sure? That seems a little too outrageous for me to believe... though I wouldn't put it past an OEM.


When I look up different years at RockAuto it shows different u-joints depending on towing package/police or not (which makes me assume towing package/police all get the aluminum shaft) but besides that they're all the same between '88 and '95 specifically.

I'm going to try to find some measurements in one of the books at work tomorrow if I have a chance.

[Nathan in MI]

One thing that might make it a bit simpler is if you used the combination U-joint that Freshmeat used when he did his T5 swap. He used an aluminum shaft from a newer Crown Victoria that had the larger flange, and mated it to his small-flange rear end with a special U-joint. Take a look at that thread (stickied in 5.0/5.8) and see if that helps.

[Lincolnmania]

townie aluminium driveshafts are unobtanium.....grab it quick!
use spicer 5-134x universal joints with your original front and rear yokes

[mrltd]

I am in the middle of a project that'll require either lengthening of an existing driveshaft or a brand new one to be made. I would greatly like to have an aluminum driveshaft under the car for the weight reduction and for the advantage of less rotating mass. I figured I could save some money by buying an aluminum driveshaft out of the junkyard and having it lengthened, no?



...what? Every single year had different u-joints and flanges? Are you sure? That seems a little too outrageous for me to believe... though I wouldn't put it past an OEM.


When I look up different years at RockAuto it shows different u-joints depending on towing package/police or not (which makes me assume towing package/police all get the aluminum shaft) but besides that they're all the same between '88 and '95 specifically.

I'm going to try to find some measurements in one of the books at work tomorrow if I have a chance.

They had 2 different sizes for any given year

[CheeseSteakJim]

They had 2 different sizes for any given year

Okay, I thought you were saying that u-joints were different year to year even among the same type of driveshaft. I would think we'd be stocking a lot more u-joints at work if Ford were that stupid!


Thanks for the Spicer number Scott, that'll simplify it a buttload. Is there any downside to using the combination u-joint instead of putting a bigger flange in? With what I'm planning, I don't really want to create a possible weak point when I could've put in a bigger flange and beefed it up that much more.

[gadget73]

Probably not a big problem, but if you can get the flange off and swapped, you might be ahead of the game. Not 100% sure, but I do believe you're stuck with at least one of those conversion joints up front since you need to keep the AOD yoke. I think something is different about the later model transmission yoke and it won't go into an AOD or something. Also, that joint is for non-tow package car joints. The tow package cars had larger driveshafts, larger U joints, and wider spacing between the "ears" on the yokes.

[mrltd]

Probably not a big problem, but if you can get the flange off and swapped, you might be ahead of the game. Not 100% sure, but I do believe you're stuck with at least one of those conversion joints up front since you need to keep the AOD yoke. I think something is different about the later model transmission yoke and it won't go into an AOD or something. Also, that joint is for non-tow package car joints. The tow package cars had larger driveshafts, larger U joints, and wider spacing between the "ears" on the yokes.

The later model slip yoke has a larger OD and therefore the tailshaft housing is also different, however I think the housings are swappable.

[GoodSamaritan]

In the Hillbilly SUV the original drive shaft had been modified. The welds were solid, but not pretty and it vibrated at higher speeds, so I went to an aluminum shaft that I believe came from a 96 or 97.

The u-joints are different sizes, but I just used a couple of combo/adapter type u-joints. I don't know the part number off hand, but I kept one of the boxes somewhere. Some god auto parts stores can measure the old and new u-joints or get the part numbers off them and look up the one you need.
At autozone I was going to have to open boxes and try to find one that fit.
Believe it or not, the first box I laid my hand on was the right one. LOL! Never had that one happen before, or since.

GS