dive shaft issues

[montego8]

I was hoping someone here could help me with a problem. I have a 50 dodge with a flat 6 and fluid drive three speed trans. The rear axle is shot and I need to replace it. I have a 8 inch rear from a 77 maverick I want to use. The rear fits after changing the perches. Now the hard part. I can't use the original drive shaft because the ford rear uses the modern style u joints. I got a drive shaft in a local junk yard from a 54 dodge truck. This drive shaft has the correct size u joints I need and it is two piece,that is it has a splined shaft and collar built into the shaft. I thought it would bolt to my transmission but ,alas, the bolt pattern is different . My question is , if I go back to the yard and pull the drum from the truck transmission will it fit on my transmission? Any ideas???

[Robert Horne]

I was hoping someone here could help me with a problem. I have a 50 dodge with a flat 6 and fluid drive three speed trans. The rear axle is shot and I need to replace it. I have a 8 inch rear from a 77 maverick I want to use. The rear fits after changing the perches. Now the hard part. I can't use the original drive shaft because the ford rear uses the modern style u joints. I got a drive shaft in a local junk yard from a 54 dodge truck. This drive shaft has the correct size u joints I need and it is two piece,that is it has a splined shaft and collar built into the shaft. I thought it would bolt to my transmission but ,alas, the bolt pattern is different . My question is , if I go back to the yard and pull the drum from the truck transmission will it fit on my transmission? Any ideas???

Modifications are like apple and oranges.

I installed a Ranger trans 5 speed in my 38 Coupe. I made an aluminum

adapter for the rearend to try the Ranger driveshaft and Plymouth rearend.

The trans worked great. The adapter worked good also..

I later installed a newer Ranger rearend, with a Explorer driveshaft.

Your situation is completely different though...

Good luck..

[Thumbtack]

The 7260 and 7290 series are the two sizes that are commonly found on Chrysler products. They represent the two stock sizes that have been used for many years. The 7260 series is the “small” Chrysler u-joint size (2 1/8 inch between flats on yoke with 1.078 inch bearing cap diameter) and the 7290 series is the “big” Chrysler u-joint size (2 5/8 inch between flats on yoke with 1.125 inch bearing cap diameter). The 7260 series is similar in size to the 1310 series and the 7290 is similar in size to the 1330 series. They both utilize the inside “C” clip design to hold the u-joint within the yoke flats whereas the 1310 and 1330 use the outside snap ring design.

The "series" of a drive shaft or universal joint is determined by the actual dimensions of the u-joint. While the front and rear u-joint can be of two different sizes the shaft is only as strong as the smaller one. The 1310 series u-joint measures approximately 3 1/4 inches wide. The 1330 and 1350 both measure approximately 3 5/8 wide. The 1310 and 1330 series can have cap diameters of 1 1/16 and/or 1 1/8 inch or a combination of both sizes. The 1350 series has a cap diameter of 1 3/16 inch and the body and journals are bigger than the 1310 or 1330. Remember 1350 is almost never found in production car drive shafts.

Per http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/index.html

You may be able to have a Ford drive yoke modified to fit a mopar joint. Or Vice versa. I would give them a call. They may know of a "conversion joint" i.e. ford on one side and Mopar on the other. As stated above there is a conversion joint 1330-1350. Another option would be is to have the rear yoke cut off your original shaft and have the yoke off the original Ford shaft welded on. The latter is what I would do. The cost will be minimal I would suspect. About $40-50 around here and you supplying the yokes. I would think this would be the cheapest and least headache way.

[Mark Haymond]

Not sure where you live, but if you are near a good sized city you could have a drive shaft modified or built for you at a drive shaft specialty service. Such services support the agriculture and trucking industries and they are are used to fabricating drive lines for customers. Yeah, they exist. And you will be surprised at how low the prices are. They could use your four bolt Mopar fitting on one end and put a U joint on the other.