Square Front Driveshaft Question

[jeepzilla47]

what he said...........now quit web wheeling and go do it....

[Arborigine]

How about heating the last 3 inches of the tube to a dull red and pounding a cone into it? Now it's round!

[Brad W.]

Why bother, he's got a huge machine shop at his disposal. Machine the yoke where you want it to phase the driveshaft, and weld the crap out of it with a 220 mig or arc. I mean really burn that sucker in there. It might be helpful to pre-heat the yoke and use a high-nickel wire/rod, since you are welding to a cast yoke. Ask Tad about that, i'm not an expert.

[BRUTUS]

OK, if its a square shaft going to a round yoke, mill the shaft to fit the yoke. First slip another smaller piece of square tube in the Small shaft. Drill and plug weld them on the flats. Then mill down the corners of the shaft to fit in the yoke and weld them together. This way there will be no loss of strength at the joint.

Then again, I am Capt Over Kill....

Capt Over Kill, I think you are missing the point of my question... Your answer still neglects MECHANICAL connection in favor of WELDED connection.

I have thought this over more and here is my final decision. I will mill the yoke to fit the 2x2 tube inside... seam weld the 2x2 to the yoke... grind a small portion of the outer flange (and some of the protruding weld) of the yoke square so that the 2.5x2.5 tube fits over BOTH the 2x2 and yoke where it is square and then seam weld the 2.5x2.5 (2" long) to the yoke and also seam weld it to the 2x2. Triple mechanical connection reinforced with welds.

Thanks for your help and ideas everyone.

[Brad W.]

yep. I like the idea of the collar over the milled and welded yoke, can't hurt to have another connection. Post up some pics of how it turns out.

[sjlplat]

Capt Over Kill, I think you are missing the point of my question... Your answer still neglects MECHANICAL connection in favor of WELDED connection.

I have thought this over more and here is my final decision. I will mill the yoke to fit the 2x2 tube inside... seam weld the 2x2 to the yoke... grind a small portion of the outer flange (and some of the protruding weld) of the yoke square so that the 2.5x2.5 tube fits over BOTH the 2x2 and yoke where it is square and then seam weld the 2.5x2.5 (2" long) to the yoke and also seam weld it to the 2x2. Triple mechanical connection reinforced with welds.

Thanks for your help and ideas everyone.

I'm sure your junk will turn out far more balanced than mine, but that's pretty similar to what we did. We didn't have a mill at our disposal, so a grinder and a press had to do. No doubt you'll be happy with the end result.

[Slick Willie]

Shoot, that'll work! Post up some pics too.

[Arborigine]

Does anyone know of anyone using three-pointed tractor PTO shafting like this?

http://www.ptoshafts.com/newpage76.htm

[BassnTruck]

Does anyone know of anyone using three-pointed tractor PTO shafting like this?
http://www.ptoshafts.com/newpage76.htm

Probally not that one.

Transmittable horse power at 540 rpm is 35 HP, at 1000 rpm is 55 HP.

[Bob Barry]

Probally not that one.

Transmittable horse power at 540 rpm is 35 HP, at 1000 rpm is 55 HP.

Yeah; in low-range and first-gear, that shaft is seeing close to 2000 ft/lbs.

Square-tube shafts are a proven solution for off-roading, and as a noted benefit, you can let it churn away over the rocks where even a thick-wall round shaft is going to distort, twist and fail.

[blt2krl]

I say push the idea envelope. To heck with the negative commments. It is your rig by god, build it like you want.

[Alon K.]

Does anyone know of anyone using three-pointed tractor PTO shafting like this?
http://www.ptoshafts.com/newpage76.htm

Yup. One of the rock\mud league competitors tried it out on his rig. The problem is those things have a top spinning speed of 1000 RPMs and that turns out to be about 25 MPH if you're on 37's with 4.56 gears. To slow.

You can just see the hexagon shape in the last picture.

We did a write up on the rig in 2005, you're more than welcome to go take a peek. The write up is in Hebrew, but the pictures aren't.

[Alon K.]

Oopsi, here's the link to the write up:

http://jeepolog.com/6.html

[Kenall]

I came in late.

Grind the small till it fits inside the yoke.
weld the 2. for diff end.
Weld the large to another yoke for the Tcase end.

no way for the smaller tube to spin inside the larger?

[Arborigine]

Thats cool, but i can't read it. Thanks