What is the max lift for a stock 85 front driveshaft?

 

Solid axle or IFS? I have 7" suspension lift on my 84 and only streched the front shaft 2" I think.

 

85 were Solid axle from the factory and i ddint want to know how much you got and how much you had to do to your drive shaft i want to know the amount i can get with a stock one.

 

I was fine with a 3.5" lift on my '85:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_suspension.shtml#PhaseI

Usually 1 of 2 things will happen:

1. If your front suspension has lots of travel, the stock slip yoke will pull apart under full droop. Only fix there is a longer slip yoke.

2. Drive shaft length depends a lot upon the location of the front axle, move the axle forward and it'll need to be lengthened. Or with a lot of lift and not a lot of up travel and you'll need to lengthen the shaft as well.

And extending a front drive shaft is not the end of the world. Only runs about $100, depending on local shop rates. I had mine lengthened maybe 3-4 times over the years.

 

I had my shaft....uh....l...lengthened.

 

3in...or 3.5in..is the max i would go...POSSIBLY 4in...anymore and u will definately have to lengthen it...and it depends on what lift you get...like...trail-gear...allpro..marlin crawler...anything that has quite a bit of travel.....but then somethin like procomp....(which is like $300)...probably not..because it wont give you much travel....if i get a lift its what im going with...i dont need flex...i dont rock crawl...i go muddin...so i dont need much travel..

 

i would say than 4inch is the limit without lengthing the shafts

 

Hi, I have a 4" front lift on an 85 xtra cab, and have done nothing to the drive shaft. Is there any chance that this is causing a noise that is driving me nuts?

What exactly does it involve to extend the drive shaft?

Thanks

 

Depends on what the noise is and when it happens. In 2WD, your front shaft should not be doing anything aside from sitting there.

To extend a shaft a little, a spacer will work:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...ftSpacer.shtml

For longer, you have to cut off the tubed section and have a longer piece of tubing welded in place, then the shaft is trued and balanced. Typically done at a drive line shop:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri....shtml#Sources