this next bit of fab is going to make a few of you twitch
off road fab'd some drive shafts for test fitting and set-up this weekend. but will also most likely start driving on them too. section out or in whatever length you want, clamp with angle iron on 2 sides to keep the tube straight and weld it back up. jump around a lot and to the opposite side each time to keep from warping it, grind off the top of the weld to minimize extra weight working against the balance, but leave the weld proud for extra material at the joint for strength.
i have actually had very good success doing this with perfect balance at 80mph, and living years under jeeps being beat off road. just not the prettiest, or well accepted solution.
had to make a little clearance on the fwd shaft to the crossmember. held a sharpie on a pc of 1/4" plate and spun the shaft to get about 1/2" clearance. if the chassis twists enough to get that to contact, the solution isn't more clearance but adding a roll cage
this shaft is 1410 joints, and will eventually just get a new professionally balanced pc.
the rear shaft helped me set the rear pinion angle and check it thru travel. at full droop i set the pinion 2deg below the shaft to allow for a little motion up under torque loading. at full compression the pinion is only 1.2deg below the pinion, so ride will be somewhere in the middle. axle perches are officially tacked in place, making the axle DONE and ready for final weld/paint. this shaft is a junkyard 1350 cv, eventually i'll get a new 1410 cv unit and have to change the yoke on the axle at the same time. that's probably also a good time to get better gears and limited slip installed.
i'm quickly running out of things to fab and procrastinate doing the floor ...
