The pile of driveshaft parts turned into this.



I was impressed/happy with the shop that did the work. When I got there to pick the shaft up it was still in the balancer. He had left it hooked up so he could spin it up and show me that it was actually balanced and ran true. I’ve already referred another guy who needs a drive shaft to him.

You might notice the writing on the end of the shaft. That’s the part number for the U Joint that end takes. I figured that was a pretty good place to record it after having to replace the rear U Joint in the El Camino yesterday (abuse might have been involved ). The El Camino uses an oddball shaft and conversion joints too, so it’s not like you can go into a parts store and tell the computer jockey an application he could find. After spending a ½ hour using the caliper to get measurements then digging thru U Joints charts to get a good part number, I figured it would be a good idea to record it for future reference in a place I could actually find it again.


I’m trying to finish up the underside of the truck so I can drop it back on the ground. I’m down to running fuel lines and exhaust. Adding the 20 gallon fuel tank adds a couple of issues besides just adding the new fuel lines. I like the way the truck currently sits. The rear springs are pretty soft however (until they compress enough to come down on the overload spring). Full of gas, the new fuel tank will add around 150 pounds to the back of the truck, which is enough to drop the truck 1 to 2 inches. I really didn’t want to add another leaf, hate air shocks and besides having bad luck with the last pair of air bags really can’t afford the space (interference with the exhaust over the axle). I ended up picking up a pair of load assist shocks. It may not be the optimum solution, but it’s the easiest and least problematic.




About the only progress actually made on the truck this week was just getting the fuel tank change over valve installed. There was no good place to mount it directly to the frame and have it oriented correctly, so a bit of time was spent getting a bracket installed.






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