slip yoke clearance

[clark]

alright guys,
I'm going to be decomissioning my S13 for the winter depending on how quickly i can get this all figured out.

I have an aftermarket drive shaft but i have since upgraded motor mounts, subframe mounts, tranny mount and it has since changed the geometry so the shaft is now too long.

my question to you guys is: How much clearance do you have between the transmission tail shaft and the drive shaft. I'm not looking for the length of the shaft or anything. I want you guys who have 0 drive train problems to either post a pic or tell me the gap you have between the slip yoke and tranny snout.

below is an example of what i'm talking about. i know my drive shaft is too long. i have probably like not even an 1/8th of an inch clearance right now


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/3893217322_ee4b2ee149.jpg

[clark]

another nissan specific picture. oops, i forgot, this is the "propeller shaft" in the nissan world:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2024/dshaftpw2.jpg

the part that is circled. i'm getting the shaft shortened either way, but i want to know how much the yoke should have to slip. should i get a half inch cut off hte shaft? 3/4 inch?

[clark]

eh i think i found my answer.

gotta love muscle car guys!

i guess the slip yoke should have about 3/4" to 1" showing.

How to know if driveshaft too long for t5 swap? - Vintage Mustang Forums (http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vintage-mustang-forum/604398-how-know-if-driveshaft-too-long-t5-swap.html)

Custom length aluminum driveshaft (http://www.streetortrack.com/Custom-length-aluminum-driveshaft-pr-16159.html)

[S14DB]

eh i think i found my answer.

gotta love muscle car guys!

i guess the slip yoke should have about 3/4" to 1" showing.

How to know if driveshaft too long for t5 swap? - Vintage Mustang Forums (http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vintage-mustang-forum/604398-how-know-if-driveshaft-too-long-t5-swap.html)

Custom length aluminum driveshaft (http://www.streetortrack.com/Custom-length-aluminum-driveshaft-pr-16159.html)

That's with a live axle setup. Where the diff moves around with the suspension travel and the driveshaft goes in and out.

Our cars are IRS and shouldn't move under normal conditions.

I have less than a 1/4" gap.

[clark]

That's with a live axle setup. Where the diff moves around with the suspension travel and the driveshaft goes in and out.

Our cars are IRS and shouldn't move under normal conditions.

I have less than a 1/4" gap.

ah, i didn't even think of that, you make a good point.

but still, i can feel my slip yoke shoulder hitting my tranny tail shaft. soo, i have to get it shortened either way...i know it has to have some showing, but pretty sure i'm going to get about a half inch lopped off.

[s14unimog]

I need to bring this one back to life. I have a single piece aluminum driveline and have recently swapped to a non-abs housing with a KAAZ unit. Since changing housings, I have effectively increased the slip by 1/2" to 1.066" and developed a terrible rear seal leak. Since I suspected the rear tail seal, I went ahead and replaced it with no changes in symptoms. I was also advised by a driveline shop that 1" was ideal but I question whether that is applicable to an IRS vehicle like the S-chassis.

Clark... did you ever find closure to this?

This subject is no very discussed on Zilvia.

[slider2828]

Mine is about an inch.... from the actual seal I have a shield there too... Do you have a shield? If not there is no protection for it therefore it might have caused leaks

[s14unimog]

If that is the case, damage to what? I inspected the outside surface of the slip yoke, the side that actually contacts the rear seal, and I noticed some slight grooving. I actually took some 1500 to is and polished a lot of that off; it didn't seem to improving or not improve the sealing. While I was at the drive line shop, a guy there actually said he thought it was fine since he couldn't catch his nail on it. I'm not opposed to purchasing/installing a new slip yoke but I would rather do it if I was a little more confident about the result; he didn't seem to think it would change anything. It does have a brand new seal and you can actually watch it slowly drip when the car sits running in neutral...

This is kind of a problem. When I had the ABS/VLSD housing in there, it wasn't leaking that I was aware of. Its only been since I increased the slip when installing the non-abs housing.


^Is yours a 1 piece?

[clark]

Well i got my driveshaft professionally shortened (and of course balanced). I have about an inch (most likely more) of clearance. The guy who cut it wanted it to be exactly an inch so i guess that is ideal since 2 separate professionals said the same thing.

i replaced my rear tranny seal when installing the newly shortened shaft as well.

it leaked before i replaced it for obviouis reasons (shaft too long contacting rear tranny snout).

BUT i honestly haven't checked it since but i don't have like stains or anything obvious like that so i'll need to check for you unimog.

just to contribute more to this thread, since i shortened the shaft, i have the same damm pesky "grind" or "whine" when in 4th gear decel mainly.

i'm almost positive it's my pilot bushing (i neglected to replace when i did my clutch job 2 yrs ago cuz i didn't know anything back then and couldn't get the old pilot out).

sorry to go off on a tangent but at least this information is out there now.

i'll follow up in the next couple days to see if i'm leaking.

i'd like to make note that i did have kind of a difficult time getting the new tranny seal to be flush and square. probably because i had no room to work under there and had a sucky tool to drive it in.

make sure you got the seal in there nice and square.

[S14DB]

http://i41.tinypic.com/w2op3m.jpg

[clark]

woww that's not alot of clearance at all. unless you ahve aluminum subframe bushings and urethane or greater motor mounts, i feel like that would contact??

since you have no complaints, i guess it doesn't, but i had like half of that clearance which is why i got shortened.

[s14unimog]

thanks for following up on this thread. I would appreciate any additional information on your setup. That is actually the reason why I shortened mine. If you think about it, that means the company that made my drive shaft only anticipated 1/2" a slip. I would like to see more engagement on mine, and since I can't easily lengthen mine, I'll make that spacer and at least post if it improved the leak.


Thanks for the picture S14DB

[Neejay]

I'm about to be in the same predicament. Currently have a 1-pc steel driveshaft in my RB25.

I got under there and measured. The J30 diff is .75" longer (ka24development says the same) than my open diff. When I took off the d/s bolts and slid it in the tranny as far as possible, it was a 1" gap in between the diff flange and the d/s flange. So that means I have roughly .25" of space. (NOTE: shaftmasters said to insert .75" in the tranny, and pull back .50", leaving .25" of empty space...)

I also have Nismo motor mounts and subframe collars...should I be ok?