[HO455]

I can't believe this driveline thing is still ongoing. I took the back half of the driveline to a second shop on the 22nd of last month. Driveline Service of Portland looked at what I had and what I needed and said " typically we charge $600 to $700 to build a complete driveline like yours, so it should be about half of that." They said they were very busy and short handed and it would take 7 to 10 days. 13 days later they called and said it was ready for pickup. The next dayI went to pick it up and they said it was $680! Basically twice the quote. So after some back and forth they admitted to the quote and that they failed to call me and ask if I was okay with the cost being double the quote. I told them I felt that they had bait and switched me and were hoping that I would pay the increased cost just to get the truck back on the road. Since the only thing they do is drivelines I couldn't see any other reason for being so far off of the quote. Once again I left a shop with half a driveline.

After some thought I decided to put the driveline half I had aside and convert to a one piece driveline. With the gearvendors on the back of the Th350 the driveline will be about 21 inches shorter. So I went out and pulled a line from the center of the rear yoke to the center of the yoke from the GV. A couple of small magnets held the string so I could measure to see if a 3 1/2" diameter driveline would fit through the crossmember. From my research for a 57 inch long driveline 3 1/2" diameter tubing is recommended. I measured the clearance with the rear bags aired out and fully inflated. (Photos 2,3, & 4) With the bags full and the shocks at maximum extension it is at the closest point at the bottom (photo 4). I will have to double check the clearance there once the driveline is in place. Worst case I will have modify the bottom of the cutout.
The last photo shows the driveline measurement. So now it is time to shop around for another vendor. Uggg!