Wynona the wagon's resurrection!

[HRH]

Got the diff and axleshafts out! Cut up the old bed frame to make a puller adapter for the axleshafts, worked like a charm!

[HRH]

Alright, so I have the driveshaft down at Hill's in Spokane. Only problem is they can't get the tiny u joints used to replace the staked joints anymore. So the other option is a one-piece shaft. However, I'm now beginning to wonder about a 2 piece shaft replacement, though it is more expensive. The one piece shaft is $275 already, but here's an article from Hot Rod magazine that has me wondering, especially since I plan to make the wagon hit the 140 mph mark.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0608rc-driveshaft-tech/

Anyone else experimented with a one piece replacement to the standard carrier bearing that Nissan used in damn near everything? And my driveline was right around 51-52 inches as I measured it.

[Laecaon]

I don't really know much on the subject, but my BMW has a two piece drive shaft and it is irs. My guess is that they were saving space.

[DRIVEN]

I really can't say which is better either. What I can give as a reference is the Lincoln Mark VIII. First year production used a 1 piece. All subsequent years used a 2 piece. Now, all these years later, the '93-only 1 piece is pretty desirable as a retrofit to later cars.

[wayno]

This is my opinion of course, when ever I hear of the transmission tail shaft or drive line exploding in a 521 it is because they are using a 520 one piece drive shaft, don't know why Jeffs exploded, but Kevins was from abuse(slamming gears), and that guy that made that 521 crewcab, his one piece drive line was just way to long and not large enough round, he is very lucky that it didn't go to pieces and screw him up, he wasn't even moving that fast, only the transmission exploded from one end to the other, tail shaft, bell housing, the whole thing self destructed, but the drive line was alright.
If your going to hot rod it/abuse it I would use a 2 piece drive line.

[HRH]

So I didn't talk to John today at the driveline shop, but the other guy I talked to said he's built all kinds of drivelines for drag racing and one piece is the way to go and they hadn't had problems. But I also wonder if they're not at any sustained speed long enough to carry a vibration to destroy shafts.

The other thing is, though my wagon is lowered, it's within the factory specs still. Factory bumpstops, yes it rides low, but it's not beyond what was designed. So my angles should be dang near perfect, which is a lot of driveline failure. I know there are certain years of Frontiers that have one piece driveshafts that I tried to source for my hardbody to get rid of the carrier bearing, and some 720s I've cut apart also had 56" long one piece driveshafts which obviously worked just fine.

My main reason for not having two piece is cost, and that article. Then again, look at all the giant trucks now that have one piece drivelines. Granted they're giant aluminum pieces. And all the Z cars had one piece drivelines, but they're also very very short shafts.

I don't know. The local guy seems to think one piece will work great, and I'm inclined to agree with him, but I think I'll still talk to him again on Monday and go another round, even if it means spending more money on a two-piece.

[DRIVEN]

I think one piece is generally better up to a certain length but that length is dictated by tube diameter. Larger diameter is easier to stabilize and/or balance. I'm not a driveline specialist.

[Laecaon]

For some reason, Nissan made the 510 wagon driveshaft have a bigger diameter than the sedan, and its only a couple inches longer...

[HRH]

That I can answer. The wagon is live axle, the driveline has to move up and down a bit. Whereas the 510 IRS is solid mounted, it only has a little bit of wiggle from mount movement, but no up and down.

[Laecaon]

I figured it was because they just over built the rear of the car. Like shoving the H190 under it when the later wagons got H165s and are bigger cars.

I now have a sedan driveshaft in my car, but cut down another 2 inches or so, and I need to shorten it again... because I moved the motor back...

[HRH]

Sweet! Move the motor back for racing? Or did you put a big motor in? I just reinstalled the diff. Looked perfect, no need to screw with it, though cleaning the stupid housing with all the studs sticking out was a bitch. Ended up using the roloc disc, tried to keep as much crap out of the housing as possible. I'm sure some got in, but it will probably be fine. I cleaned it all out with a paper towel soaked in brake cleaner after I was through cleaning. Would have like to remove the studs to clean off the gasket surface but used a factory Nissan stamped steel gasket and put The Right Stuff on both sides vary sparingly. It's not going to leak, no way. Hopefully what minor grit I did get will be diluted in the gear oil and of course I'll run it, then change it out. Or I may just forget and take my chances with the little bit of grit in there. Probably going to eventually swap the rear axle out for an LSD Ford unit anyway.

Just have to replace the axle tube seals, then reinstall the axle shafts and bleed the rear brakes, then bam, waiting for the driveline and she'll be operational. Still have to cobble up the exhaust then hit the exhaust shop, but driveable anyway.

[HRH]

Axles shafts back in, brakes bled, diff filled with oil! Only thing left now is to grab the swaybar off Ugly betty and install that, attach the exhaust, and await the new driveshaft next week. And of course test and tune and install my really cool idea for cam control. Didn't make it to Pull and Save yesterday, probably just wait until next weekend. Just need a connector for the vacuum pump I got. Coming along nicely!

https://youtu.be/SVjwkOBUV-w

[noflers]

Give us more! Haha, sounds like it's coming along great.

What's this cam control idea?

[HRH]

I think I mentioned it earlier, but I'll keep you in suspense until I figure out if it works.

[HRH]

Ok, off to make the wagon run under her own power today!!

[DRIVEN]

Why is this taking so long?

[HRH]

Because you're not helping me.

Driveshaft turned today. Have to swap a speedometer gear then start testing and fiddling with stuff. Other than that, she's almost ready to go. I can actually drive her now, but trying to get the idle fixed and a few other things before I actually go off down the street. Success though!

[flatcat19]

2 weeks.

[DRIVEN]

I'm planning for '18. Too much going on this year. Tucked junk has no excuse. He knows what i'm talkin bout.

[HRH]

Well, my grand idea worked, but ultimately failed. Cam is just too lumpy to do much at idle. I got it where I wanted. As soon as I clicked on the AC though, it killed the motor. Too much of a load. So I lowered the tranny and I'm in the process of switching out the cam for the stock one. Maybe later I'll get one re-ground to a better profile, but for now I'm going to put it back to the way it was with the automatic transmission and I'll still have a lot more compression, therefore torque.

Going for a hike now, should be able to get the cam finished up tonight. Hate that though, have to de-tension all the rocker arms and yank her out, then re-adjust everything. I love the L valve train but I do wish it was a little easier than the jam nuts at the bottom. The top studs like Mazdas are super easy and nice with the top nut and stud over the cam.