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CHEAP aluminum driveshaft for those with extended control arms

87K views 180 replies 61 participants last post by  96 Black 
#1 · (Edited)
i have had this assumption since last year when i had a pair of driveshafts laying next to each other, and one was 3/4" longer than the other. my assumptions were proven true last week when i installed my extended rear control arms, and my new aluminum driveshaft.

the shaft that was 3/4" longer than my SS one was.......

from my 99 P71 crown vic. so i finally found something that ford was good at besides sounding fast while being slow, and rusting out and needing scrapped at 76k miles.

i looked up both shafts and found the vic to use the 1330 universal and the SS to use the saginaw 44. then i looked up a conversion universal to go from one to the other so i could install my trans yoke to the driveshaft and the shaft to the pinion yoke. once i found it, i cross referenced it to a vehicle application so i could get it locally, and found that the joint one needs to ask for (you need 2 to do this) is the rear joint for a 2wd 2003 avalanche. you will know at the store you have the correct joint because it has 2 different styles of caps and retainer clips. one pair of clips is internal that goes in the groove in the cap, the other is external and goes into a groove in the yoke of the driveshaft.

precision part #355
masterpro(oreilly) #355
duralast #2-1569DG or 2-1569DL
neapco #2-1569
brute force #2-0621BF

i have driven it for a week and like have no vibrations or anything weird. and i drive my car hard and have considerably more power than a stock LT1. the p71 aluminum driveshafts are very well balanced from the factory. i know 98-02 will work, not sure about the 03+ because they changed the entire chassis that year.

remember this only works if you have extended rear control arms.
 
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#40 ·
So would one be safe to assume that the newer model driveshafts (due to being 1/4" shorter than the 98-02) should fit a stock setup? Maybe with a little adjusting the pinion angle?

Interesting nonetheless.

I'm going the extended route regardless.
 
#43 ·
This might need to be checked out, but P71 top speeds came up in another forum I was on and it turned into a conversation about gears, etc. The MMC driveshaft situation came up. My recollection was that they were used only on early P71's which had the optional 3.55 gears as mentioned. (3.27 is standard as I recall). The MMC shaft was not used on 3.27 cars and 3.55's were later discontinued. Meaning, there was a very short window in which the MMC was used because it was only available with the 3.55. I will try to find the info again.

Sean
 
#44 ·
the info i posted earlier said the mmc shaft is from 99-00 cars.

the car i pulled mine from was a 99 3.55 geared car, and was my driver for 2 years.
 
#46 ·
Okay, sorry, wasn't sure if it was clear or not. I couldn't find the info anyways, but sounds like I was remembering right!
 
#45 ·
Yea those are the two years to find because of material it was made from, also some early 2001 P71 Crown vics but i bet the other years would work.
The blue or brown color band paint on them tells you it the one to buy. Also the welds look just a tad different.

I bought a few of each at our local yard super cheap just to play around with them. if they dont work out they can become scrap metal and ill get my money back.
 
#47 ·
if you don't wind up using them join crownvic.net or the marauder site and sell them for $100 each. that's the going rate last time i was there.
 
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#48 ·
Nothing showed up.
 
#50 ·
Yes. Unless I'm missing something.
 
#51 ·
cant see sh!t either.
 
#54 ·
yes.
cant see a driveshaft loop tho.
 
#56 ·
So how do I identify the shaft for a CV to know it is right exactly?
Also the part # M-4602-G on Summit is listed for a lot of cars. one being the broke down 302 Mustang sitting in my back yard. So will the shaft in it be same as CV?
 
#57 ·
That's good information to know. I need a new driveshaft for extended arms, I'm going to see how his works...
 
#59 ·
Still gotta find a yoke and the arms...but got mine prepped.




Definitely learned a lot about the drivetrain in regards to the driveshaft and it's relation to weight.
 
#60 ·
Any chance these are able to be used with stock length control arms?
 
#61 ·
I got one from the junk yard from a 06 CV police car P71 that is about 1/4 longer than stock b-body one. I don't mind spend the money and time to see it will work, but i cannot figure out the u-joint conversion. The 06 and newer CV have a 1 3/8 u-joint hole, not the 1 1/8 size in 98 thru 05 ones.
So, I need a 1 3/8 snap ring/ to 1 1/8 caprice cap style u-joint.
Anyone have any idea who would make one like that?
 
#64 ·
post two measurements of the CV shaft u-joint.
cap diameter (1 and 3/8" ?) and the distance between the snap rings that retain the caps, 180' from each other.
 
#62 ·
^^^^ is that one made of the same material as the other CV shafts? I am very interested in knowing if theres a budget option for a stock length shaft, so if you get one to work, left me know, as I'll be planning a gear sawp in the next 6 months or so.

Thanks for being a guinea pig.
 
#66 ·
Sounds spot on to me MightyCap...

I'd love a MMC but a highly durable aluminum one is still good beyond the RPM I'd be spinning it.
 
#67 ·
Just a update on the 2006 and newer CV P71 drive shafts fitment.

The u-joint needed to make these work on 91-96 B-body cars for 2006 and newer is a Precision 447 or a Neapco 1153, Spicer does not make one because this was never put in a production car.
In 2006 and newer P71's CV the u-joint got beefier so 1350/S44 conversion is needed to make this work.

The bad news is that my Ford buddy at the dealership is telling me that all the drive shafts are all the same length from in P71 CV's from 1998 until the last year in production. Just the u joint sized got bigger in 2006 and up P71s.
So you must have the extended lower control arms to make this work in our cars.
 
#68 ·
have yout tried to install the driveshaft without the extended arms, or is it really that much longer that it won't allow a test run?
 
#69 ·
that is the case. i didn't have to even try knowing where the line on my yoke where the seal rode was.

i did take an aluminum shaft from a then new 2005 chevy truck and have it shortened to fit my 78 caddy when i put the impala rear in it. but when you start getting into buying one then having it shortened and balanced at a reputable shop you may as well call denny's or something because it's not cheap.
 
#70 ·
On the idea of using these on reg length control arms,

What I thought about doing was shorting the caprice yoke I am installing by 3/4 of a inch at a friend of mine machine shop and using the CV drive shaft.
I think there is enough room to do this on the caprice yoke, but it may change the angle of the drive shaft just a tad.

I have no idea if this would work, but If I go find a caprice yoke at the JK yard I may give this a shot.

The conversion u-joints are about $12 each, so $24 and the price of the CV Police drive shaft, and the cost of using a band saw to cut off the yoke by 3/4 of a inch and your done.

I found several of them around here from the local pick your self JK's, all from the 99 thru 2000 police MCC version dirt cheap.

If anyone needs one a may sell a few, but shipping will not be fun.
 

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#73 ·
The MCC ones have it written on the drive shaft somewhere in gold letters and the welds look much different than the aluminum welded ones, but i do agree that just the aluminum ones would be a huge upgrade and work just fine. Also they are all 3.5 inch.

Are you saying the yoke bottoms on the reluctor before the shaft bottoms in the yoke? Yes

On the yoke, I still need to measure and see if this idea would even work. But I'm moving the entire drive shaft forward toward the transmission by 3/4 of a inch.
 
#74 ·
i love where this is going, all because i just happened to bring home my SS and toss the loose driveshaft on the pile on top of the one i kept from my vic.
 
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