Hey guys, I have a 93 3.4L Camaro and the two piece drive shaft is on its last leg. I read online and found that driveshafts from any Camaro ~85-02 are interchangeable so I bought one from a 95 Z-28. After measuring the two driveshafts, I find that the one on my car is 41.5 inches long vs. 41 inches for the 95 Z-28's shaft (Measured from the center of the U-joint caps.) Mine is a half inch longer than the one I bought to replace it.

What I'm wondering is this: Is it going to be a big enough problem where it won't work? I took some pictures of the yokes on my car that go into both the transmission and the rear end.

Transmission yoke:



Rear end:



As you can see, the rear yoke is pushed all the way in whereas the front yoke looks like it's got some play to it. Will the rear yoke make up for the length or should I just abandon this idea altogether and start over again?


Edit: Excuse the mess...it's an old car with a lot of miles.

 

Over the years, I have read where people took out the 2 piece DS and installed the 1 piece and had no problems.

 

I've heard of this plenty too. The LT1 guys buy the LS1 driveshafts, and then sell their old steel one-piece driveshafts for 15-25 bucks to the V6 guys.

 

Are the pics you posted of the 1-pc or 2-pc driveshaft?

 

Oh, my apologies. The pics posted are of the two piece shaft that is still on the car.

I've read several accounts of V6 guys replacing their 2 piece shafts with 1 piece LT1 steel shafts as well, but I just want to be sure that the 1/2 inch difference in length is not going to be a problem before I install it.

 

Anybody else know if the new shaft being a 1/2 inch shorter will make a difference? I'd like to get this thing in this afternoon and would like to hear some more info if possible. Thanks in advance!

 

The rear yoke can't "make up for the length" because it cant move.... and it doesn't "go into.... the rearend". Its bolted firmly to the pinion shaft, which is fixed (can not move in and out of the diff housing). Only the front yoke has the "slider".

How did you measure the length of the stock 2-piece DS? Between what points is it 41.5" long? U-joint to U-joint? (Edit - Appears that's what you did.). You have to measure it including the complete front slider. That length determines the length of engagement on the tranny ouput shaft splines, which is what you have to control. Also, did you have it perfectly straight, or bent at the small angle it normally forms at the center support bearing?

 

I measured from the center of the caps on the U-joints. I suppose I can remeasure this afternoon and see how the lengths are. And the 2 piece shaft was angled slightly in the middle. I couldn't hold it up though...not enough hands.

 

Just thought I would update this:

I got the Z-28 driveshaft in, used the slip-yoke from the 2-piece and it all went together well.

There is some vibration, though. It's got the weights on it so it seems like it was factory balanced. Do you think that pulling it out and rotating it on the transmission's output shaft would help?

 

It is worth a try, but if you changed the yoke on the front, it might have thrown off the balance.

 

I was wondering that myself, but the one piece shaft's yoke is about 2-3 inches longer than the one from the two piece shaft. It was also pretty rusty inside and out so I was hesitant to put it in there.


Time for a dumb question: When you get a driveshaft balanced, it's done off of the car, right? Also, what kinds of places balance drive shafts?

 

rotating it on the trans output shaft wouldnt do much as it would be right where it is now. If you notice there is a locating slot on the output shaft and inside the yoke, so it'll fit into the trans in one spot. maybe one rotation on the read end would help with the balance issue. I just put a one piece in my 95 from a 91 a couple weeks ago, just slid it in, old ujoints and all and its been great. When the weather warms up I do plan to change the u joints though, unless they become a problem before then. If a 1/2 turn on the rear doesnt take care of it, then Id say X2 on the new yoke throwing the balance off.


This is also assuming you changed both u joints when you put the new one in.

Yes DS balancing is done off the car, usually by machine shops or specialty DS shops.