needing a good driveshaft

[QWKSNKE]

Originally Posted by BAD INT

havent you ever saw one of the drive shafts with a weight at the tranny yoke its really hard to miss,I talked to a ford tech about them once.He said lots of cars had them on them but mostly on auto cars and if a car came in for a driveline vibration if everything was fine mechanically they would install one.

I have seen them on 4cyl cars but never a V-8

[Italian LX]

Originally Posted by QWKSNKE

I have seen them on 4cyl cars but never a V-8

My '91 GT (automatic) had the driveshaft with the weight on the front.

[tayzoid1]

from what i understand the auto make's put the weight on the shafts to balance out the imperections i called the machine shop to see if they could balance mine and they said the could not but they can "fix" them i asked how can they fix them they the machine guy replied the auto makers put the weights on there to counteract the fact that something isnt perfect about their driveshaft so instead of balancing the driveshaft the machine shop"fixes" the driveshaft by re tubing it rather than "putting a band aid on the problem" <(the machinist guy) but like i said this is just whati have been told if your shaft has wieghts something is wrong with it; warped,dented,bent,or has erectile disfunction.

[TheJeanyus]

It's just like balancing a wheel. It's virtually impossible to produce one that is perfectly balanced/dimensioned, so it's a lot easier to just balance it out with a counter weight.

[Italian LX]

Originally Posted by tayzoid1

from what i understand the auto make's put the weight on the shafts to balance out the imperections i called the machine shop to see if they could balance mine and they said the could not but they can "fix" them i asked how can they fix them they the machine guy replied the auto makers put the weights on there to counteract the fact that something isnt perfect about their driveshaft so instead of balancing the driveshaft the machine shop"fixes" the driveshaft by re tubing it rather than "putting a band aid on the problem" <(the machinist guy) but like i said this is just whati have been told if your shaft has wieghts something is wrong with it; warped,dented,bent,or has erectile disfunction.

So, how does one "retube" a drive shaft?

Every drive shaft I have seen has some sort of weight placed on it for balancing. I'm sure it's similar to your wheels and tires; no matter how well made they are, there are always going to be small imperfections that translate to slight imbalances at high speeds.

[TheJeanyus]

Originally Posted by Italian LX

I'm sure it's similar to your wheels and tires; no matter how well made they are, there are always going to be small imperfections that translate to slight imbalances at high speeds.

Yep. We heat treat "large diamater round bar that goes into automotive applications" at our Youngstown, OH plant. While I can't say with 100% certainty that they make drive shafts out of some of it, that's about the only part I can think of that's big enough to warrant the use of these large diamater bars. We have to send some of it out for rotary straightening, and even then you can't get them perfectly straight. Then add in the fact that the steel mill can't make them perfectly round or consistent along the length of the bar and you can see why a driveshaft would need to be balanced.

[coupe]

Originally Posted by TheJeanyus

...While I can't say with 100% certainty that they make drive shafts out of some of it, that's about the only part I can think of that's big enough to warrant the use of these large diamater bars.

What diameter? Probably axle-shafts if it's solid round bar.

[TheJeanyus]

Originally Posted by coupe

What diameter? Probably axle-shafts if it's solid round bar.

We do anything from 1" to 12" in diameter (currently doing some furnace upgrades to handle up to 14" bars), but it's not all automotive. A lot of the time we don't know the end use because we don't even know who the end customer is. The really large stuff is used for oil rig drill collars. Some of the small stuff is for rifle barrels. I'm not too envolved with what goes on in Youngstown, so I'm not sure what sizes are for the customers who supply the automotive industry.

A lot of stuff is made from solid round bar then drilled out after heat treating. I know the drill collars are drilled out, and obviously rifle barrels are.

[coupe]

You, sir, have a badass job.

[qkjuicedpony]

Originally Posted by coupe

You, sir, have a badass job.

Where he gets to bullshit on the interwebz all day