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Placement of rear or driveshaft question

Allwayslooking

Allwayslooking

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I changed my rear to a sure grip 8 3/4 I have from a former race car I’m parting out. Both cars are 65 b-bodies, 65 Coronet post body and a 65 satellite convertible completely stock 318 car. I took the entire rear and switched them out except for front leaf spring brackets. The original driveshaft just fit, there is no room to slide back and forth, and the u-joints were too small. The race car driveshaft is too long by an inch or 2. The brackets on the race car seem to be 1 inch longer, it seems even if I switch the brackets I’ll still have to modify the driveshafts to make them work. Will I have any problems because the rear is an inch or 2 closer to the trans or should I leave it and just have the driveshaft cut to size.
 
Did you measure everything before you swapped it out ? You have to make sure you have enough room for axle wrap i would remeasure everything on both cars
 
Be certain the rear is square and the pinion angle is good.If there's no issue with tire clearance then you can resize the drive shaft.If you not much over 500 HP the small joints should survive.If you have the 1250 joints your ahead of the game!
 
Did race car have S/S springs? Stock 65 springs 21 inches from center of front eye to perch pin, S/S springs 20 inches.
 
It seems like you are asking if you need to shorten the driveshaft. How much room for movement does the yoke still have at the transmission with everything bolted up in place and sitting on the tires? I would think 1-1/4 inch or so would be about the minimum you want depending on how the car sits, launches and driveline angles, etc. Sorry if I'm misunderstanding the question.
 
Moparstyle said:
Did you measure everything before you swapped it out ? You have to make sure you have enough room for axle wrap i would remeasure everything on both cars
Click to expand...
HEMI-ITIS said:
Be certain the rear is square and the pinion angle is good.If there's no issue with tire clearance then you can resize the drive shaft.If you not much over 500 HP the small joints should survive.If you have the 1250 joints your ahead of the game!
Click to expand...
Fran Blacker said:
Did race car have S/S springs? Stock 65 springs 21 inches from center of front eye to perch pin, S/S springs 20 inches.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for all the responses... I didn’t do all my due diligence before swapping out the rears but all seems to have worked out. The new rear is square just double check. The new springs 20 inch from pin to center of eye bolt, originals are 21.5 to center. The original brackets are 3 1/4 the other brackets are 4 3/8. The original driveshaft is 63 1/8 yoke and all, the heavy duty is 62 1/2. The distance from tip of the gear at end of trans to where the u-joint bolts up is 54 3/4.

D800822D-69A6-4C4C-B55A-7FF8E4A31BBD.jpeg 6995052C-F727-425D-8D49-7B660EB695A1.jpeg 00243BCE-B10F-4380-AED4-53D70FBA4BD1.jpeg
 
AR67GTX said:
It seems like you are asking if you need to shorten the driveshaft. How much room for movement does the yoke still have at the transmission with everything bolted up in place and sitting on the tires? I would think 1-1/4 inch or so would be about the minimum you want depending on how the car sits, launches and driveline angles, etc. Sorry if I'm misunderstanding the question.
Click to expand...
Hi AR, there is no movement at all. I’m pretty sure I have to shorten shaft either way, I’m trying to figure out if I need to go through the work of moving my rear back or I can leave it where it is and just cut the shaft to fit.
 
HEMI-ITIS said:
Be certain the rear is square and the pinion angle is good.If there's no issue with tire clearance then you can resize the drive shaft.If you not much over 500 HP the small joints should survive.If you have the 1250 joints your ahead of the game!
Click to expand...
Hi Hemi, so my ultimate goal is BB cross ram, while I’m not there I hope to be soon. How can I check pinion level. The car wasn’t a radical race car it was street/strip so I think everything will be gd but I’d like to check before I have shaft shortened

94F466D7-20DE-42EC-8846-1FCECB630B60.jpeg
 
Rear shackles will determine whether you need to change front brackets. Do this before cut/ measuring driveshaft length.
 
As someone hinted at above
see if the wheels are where you want them in the wheelwells
you can use the longer hangers
and/or use the longer main leafs- or both
(stock guys tried to move the rear end forward a much as possible)
might want to take the springs apart and check them in any case you can do it in a vice or some use a big c clamp- just go slow
you may need new zincs or I use plastic separators to make them smoother- not stick/slip
the plastics come in a roll and are H shaped (about quarter inch lips) to keep them in place
check your height
you can always add a leaf
check each leaf pair from both sides- just sit them on the ground and see if they have the same arch
not rocket science
now fool with your driveshaft length
cheers watch for stripped threads on the U bolts
new bolts are the answer but you can get by with double nuts (second nut on good threads)
check those break lines (rust in the steel, cracks in the rubber)
 
Allwayslooking said:
Hi thanks for all the responses... I didn’t do all my due diligence before swapping out the rears but all seems to have worked out. The new rear is square just double check. The new springs 20 inch from pin to center of eye bolt, originals are 21.5 to center. The original brackets are 3 1/4 the other brackets are 4 3/8. The original driveshaft is 63 1/8 yoke and all, the heavy duty is 62 1/2. The distance from tip of the gear at end of trans to where the u-joint bolts up is 54 3/4.

View attachment 587141 View attachment 587142 View attachment 587143
Click to expand...
Thouht you were taking original 65 driveshaft. Neither of those shafts are original to a 65.
 
Fran Blacker said:
Did race car have S/S springs? Stock 65 springs 21 inches from center of front eye to perch pin, S/S springs 20 inches.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure if they a
wyrmrider said:
As someone hinted at above
see if the wheels are where you want them in the wheelwells
you can use the longer hangers
and/or use the longer main leafs- or both
(stock guys tried to move the rear end forward a much as possible)
might want to take the springs apart and check them in any case you can do it in a vice or some use a big c clamp- just go slow
you may need new zincs or I use plastic separators to make them smoother- not stick/slip
the plastics come in a roll and are H shaped (about quarter inch lips) to keep them in place
check your height
you can always add a leaf
check each leaf pair from both sides- just sit them on the ground and see if they have the same arch
not rocket science
now fool with your driveshaft length
cheers watch for stripped threads on the U bolts
new bolts are the answer but you can get by with double nuts (second nut on good threads)
check those break lines (rust in the steel, cracks in the rubber)
Click to expand...
The wheels sit square & I don’t notice a difference just wanted to be sure. I like a little higher of a stance so I’ll probably be adding a leaf if it sits too low. I’ll be running new brakes/gas lines. Thanks for the tips
 
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