Double Cardan rebuild

[dogtail]

I wasn't really impressed by my Wholesale Imports Parts aftermarket driveshaft. I blew out the DC joint after only 16K miles ( the ball actually fell out), they sent me a new one on warranty but without a zerk on the DC, I'm not impressed on the sealed ball design. I need longevity.
So I decided to rebuild my original 300K+ mile shaft. I never realized I had such a great drivetrain shop so close to me. They do everything, 3rd member fabrication, build complete custom rearends from scratch. Anyway they rebuilt my DC with new joints and a new ball, new rear joint, and balanced the shaft. $235 is a nice price on that.
http://mitchelldifferential.com/

 

[Jungoes]

wow definitely worth the cost .. wish i had options like that in my area :/

 

[mtbtim]

While I agree that the price they did that for is pretty good, I sort of question if the parts they used are quality. Toyota doesn't make the u-joints or center ball for the double cardan joint so where did the shop source the parts from? I have been told Moog makes a u-joint and ball but I question the quality. I would like the challenge of rebuilding a double cardan joint, but if it means using inferior parts, I don't know if it's a smart move.

If you don't mind, would you be willing to ask the shop the brand parts they used for your double cardan rebuild? I'm really interested what their answer is.

If the parts aren't legitimately high quality, a better use of your money would have been to put it towards a purchase of an aftermarket driveshaft from a company like Tom Woods who uses quality parts that anyone can source if a u-joint goes bad.

 

[fourwd1]

That's a very reasonable price.
I've had many custom shafts made for my 84, front and rear.
From both the local shop and High Angle (who are great to work with BTW).
I have to run a DC on my rear shaft as well, the local shop couldn't understand why until they walked outside the shop.

 

[kolelt]

While I agree that the price they did that for is pretty good, I sort of question if the parts they used are quality. Toyota doesn't make the u-joints or center ball for the double cardan joint so where did the shop source the parts from? I have been told Moog makes a u-joint and ball but I question the quality. I would like the challenge of rebuilding a double cardan joint, but if it means using inferior parts, I don't know if it's a smart move.

If you don't mind, would you be willing to ask the shop the brand parts they used for your double cardan rebuild? I'm really interested what their answer is.

If the parts aren't legitimately high quality, a better use of your money would have been to put it towards a purchase of an aftermarket driveshaft from a company like Tom Woods who uses quality parts that anyone can source if a u-joint goes bad.

I have a driveshaft place near me. Mr.driveshaft they have a website also. Fixing driveshafts isn’t cheap. That’s for sure. With that said, he did say he can source the u-joints for the double cardan. They can also make a new driveshaft. But that is almost $1500

 

[fourwd1]

I have a driveshaft place near me. Mr.driveshaft they have a website also. Fixing driveshafts isn’t cheap. That’s for sure. With that said, he did say he can source the u-joints for the double cardan. They can also make a new driveshaft. But that is almost $1500

$1500 is ridiculous !
I'd have to dig hard for the receipts, but I don't think I ever paid more than $600 for custom built shaft from High Angle. An that's with the thickest wall tube that would fit the flanges, and a 12" slip joint.

 

[JayRolla]

$1500 is ridiculous !
I'd have to dig hard for the receipts, but I don't think I ever paid more than $600 for custom built shaft from High Angle. An that's with the thickest wall tube that would fit the flanges, and a 12" slip joint.

Only way that's a justified price if its carbon fiber!! Haha

 

[Angrywelder]

I am assuming from trying to rebuild two of these shafts that if a shop claims that they can rebuild one they are machining the cup ears on the shaft in order to clearance for aftermarket joints. I don't remember the exact measurements but the difference between the cups and the cup ears is very little maybe 30 or 40 thousandths. However the differences are enough that when you press the cups in the joint will not freely move as it should or you will break the cup ears on your shaft. I have rebuilt hundreds of driveshafts an axles and have never had a problem but when I tried with the 4Runner shaft I broke one of the cup ears off and had to replace the drive shaft. Also, the center ball is a pain in the ass to remove. I found, the best way for me to remove the center ball was to build a puller using a short piece of pipe and a bolt. I welded the bolt into the center ball and pulled the ball out that way. Then I had to use a carbide bit to relive cut the bronze bushing in order to remove it. The new one pressed in fine once the old one was removed.

I would suggest to anyone who needs a drive shaft rebuilt to give up and order one from an aftermarket source. I replaced mine with a Tom Woods shaft and I couldn't be happier with it because it is rebuildable.

 

[Angrywelder]

1500 is a crazy price. I just ordered mine from Tom Woods and it was 415.00 delivered to the door.

 

[fourwd1]

1500 is a crazy price. I just ordered mine from Tom Woods and it was 415.00 delivered to the door.

They are great too.

 

[kolelt]

I said the same thing for $1500.

 

[shadow247]

They are great too.

415 is a great deal! Driveshaft King quoted me 500 to rebuild and balance my existing driveshaft. I'll have to check that out. I need a rear u-joint - but I might as well replace the whole driveshaft if it's that cheap.

 

[APhelps]

I had the brilliant (not.) idea of trying to replace all my u-joints on my drive shaft. I quickly found out that I made a huge mistake, and promptly went to the junkyard to source one. Fortunately I found one.

 

[JayRolla]

I had the brilliant (not.) idea of trying to replace all my u-joints on my drive shaft. I quickly found out that I made a huge mistake, and promptly went to the junkyard to source one. Fortunately I found one.

Yeap for $25 my junkyard shaft has done me well.

High Angle Driveline is another good source for rebuild. He says he has found OEM parts from other Toyota CV that he builds the CV portion. He agrees the aftermarket parts are trash and will fail. He quoted me $175 years back for rebuild.

https://www.highangledriveline.com

 

[APhelps]

Yeap for $25 my junkyard shaft has done me well.

High Angle Driveline is another good source for rebuild. He says he has found OEM parts from other Toyota CV that he builds the CV portion. He agrees the aftermarket parts are trash and will fail. He quoted me $175 years back for rebuild.

https://www.highangledriveline.com

If I get into quite a bit of off-roading I'd like to get it rebuilt as a spare. Thanks for the link.

 

[dogtail]

While I agree that the price they did that for is pretty good, I sort of question if the parts they used are quality. Toyota doesn't make the u-joints or center ball for the double cardan joint so where did the shop source the parts from? I have been told Moog makes a u-joint and ball but I question the quality. I would like the challenge of rebuilding a double cardan joint, but if it means using inferior parts, I don't know if it's a smart move.

If you don't mind, would you be willing to ask the shop the brand parts they used for your double cardan rebuild? I'm really interested what their answer is.

If the parts aren't legitimately high quality, a better use of your money would have been to put it towards a purchase of an aftermarket driveshaft from a company like Tom Woods who uses quality parts that anyone can source if a u-joint goes bad.

I spent a good amount of time face to face with these guys and got recommendations. Since its in walking distance of my house makes it easier too. Per your request and my curiosity also I went back there today and got some more info. They are real nice and brought out a new 3rd gen DC ball and pulled it out of the box and explained how it works and what they do. I put notes and arrows on the pictures. You can see the needle bearings, in the red packaging plastic is a spring. It rides on a stud/shaft. If the ball has no more lube and dries out it can wear out the bearing shaft. Where the lube comes into the ball is thru the hole on the bottom allowing it to get into the needle bearings. They measure the shaft thickness to make sure it is not worn out. The components they use seem of decent quality and I am confident in my exposure to them so far. This is their main line of business and seem to have a great amount of pride in workmanship. The DC ball is made by Neapco which has been around for almost 100 yrs.
https://neapcocomponents.com/
I feel even more confident in their work after getting more in depth with them. The true test will come out in my 1,000 mile per week use, yes I drive it that much. I just picked up another 3rd gen project and will need to refurbish another shaft. Its either rebuild or go for a Toms at this point. The way I look at it, seems lot of people don't want to mess with these DC balls, on the other hand someone that knows what they're doing can make it work properly. I figure, why throw out a shaft just because of a replaceable ball. Kinda like people throw out perfectly good expensive ignition coils cause the boot is dry and cracked and they have no idea you can buy the Denso boots separate for cheap money. Hope this helps.

 

[dogtail]

If you don't mind, would you be willing to ask the shop the brand parts they used for your double cardan rebuild? I'm really interested what their answer is.

Got some more info for you. I went back there to get another 3rd gen driveshaft balanced, and they just happened to have a 3rd gen shaft on the front service desk at the time and I snapped some pics of it with the DC ball out.
Also I had them tell me what part number for the U-joints that are in the DC joint. They told me Neapco 1-5800. They showed me they can tell with a measuring gauge and they showed me how they measure it. I had them print it on my receipt.
The DC ball is just simple needle bearings as are the U-joints. Be cool if you can do a video on a DC rebuild.