Carrier bearing driveshaft to 1 piece driveshaft conversion

['83coupe]

I have a 1974 c10 long bed that I am going to be lowering and was wondering if anyone has switched from a carrier bearing driveshaft to a one piece driveshaft? If so is there a factory one piece driveshaft that I might be able to source rather than having one built, any help will be much appreciated.

[75C10]

I have a 75 long bed that had a two piece drive shaft and was changed to a one piece. I think the carrier bearing support was removed for shaft clearance. This was done 25 years ago. I had a one piece shaft from a 77 and it has worked fine. Currently the truck is dropped 4/6 and the shaft has remained untouched other than u joint replacement.

[barry1982]

I believe you are going to have a hard time finding a one piece driveshaft long enough. Chances are your transmission has a 6" tail? The trucks that came with the one piece shaft all had 9" tail transmissions. I had an 81 GMC with the 9" tale TH350, and a one piece driveshaft. The trans started slipping, so I picked up a good used TH350. Never realized it had a 6" tail. I ended up cutting the rear "yoke" off of my original driveshaft with a large Ridgid tubing cutter. Cut the rear off of another driveshaft 3" longer, and mig welded to my original. This is tricky process, had to make a "jig" to hold perfectly square during the welding process. Important that the weld is flawless as well. I was concerned about the shaft being out of balance after my repair, but got lucky and never had any vibrations.

[74CustomK20]

I had one made for my k20 465-205 swap. Gave rm my old one and 100 bucks out the door I had a longer and new ujoints. I know my welding skills and have this to the pros.

[1970pelle]

I thought about using one of the 1997-2001 Dodge Ram truck aluminum driveshaft. There the right length, almost to long. There is a shop here in Jax that can make it fix. They rebuilt my two piece.


Ken