Anyone interested in heavy duty DC drive shafts?

I bought a Tom Woods custom front shaft with Double Cardan joint and fitted with the correct flange at both ends to fit my defender,and it cost me U.S.$537 delivered to my door,direct from Tom Woods.
I just called and gave them the length I required and the centre to centre dimensions for the mounting holes on the flange,and they had it made and out for shipping the next day.
The shaft is fitted with 1310 unis,but they are wide angle,and even with approx. 3" lift the unis don't bind,unlike the originals

Wayne, if I understand this right, you didn't even use a DII output flange on the t/case ?
You just gave them the PCD of the OE flanges ?

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Originally Posted by rick130

Wayne, if I understand this right, you didn't even use a DII output flange on the t/case ?
You just gave them the PCD of the OE flanges ?

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Rick

Yep!!! That is part of the reason I went for a Woods shaft over some of the others available.That and everyone I have heard of with a woods shaft,has been very happy.And you save money by not having to buy an STC4379 flange kit,which makes it easier if I ever want to put it back to standard if I ever wanted to sell the vehicle.
The shaft is a work of art,the splines come with a"long life coating" and they even come with a lubrication tool for the centre joint in the Cardan

Just a little bit of information from the Tom Woods web site,regarding the 1350 Uni Joints

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/01/963.jpg
Ted Grady running our 1310 series CV at the 2004 Supercrawl

1350 Series CV vs 1310 Series CV

(Also, see BAMF)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/01/964.jpg

Many people express an interest in the 1350 series CV (double cardan) type drive shafts. There seem to be a number of misconceptions out there about this type of drive shaft. As with any other product there are upsides and down-sides to the 1350 series CV drive shaft.

Strength

We have seen another web site touting the 1350 CV to be three times the strength of the 1310 series. This, We believe to be incorrect. Relying on information provided by the manufacturer of the components, our calculation is that the 1350 series joint is about 37.5% stronger than the 1310 series. The 1350 joint is rated for 2,200 pound feet (minimum elastic limit) of torque. While the 1310 series (stock size for most Jeeps) is rated for 1,600 lb/ft torque. The center pivot pin on the weld yoke is the same size (.500"diameter) on both.

Flexibility & Durability

With unmodified components the 1350 series CV will flex between 20 & 30 degrees prior to binding. This variable will be due to inconsistencies in the castings, the design and manufacturer of the components.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/01/965.jpgIn order to achieve greater flexibility in the drive shaft, we can do some machine work to the CV components. Maximum flexibility requires removing the sealing element in the center.

With most manufacturers components, the 1310 series will flex to about 30 degrees before experiencing the bind. With some tough off grinding to the CV components prior to assembly, this we can usually attain a nominal 35 degrees of flexibility.
The center pivot point on all our1310 CV’s will have the grease fitting, allowing for periodic re-lubrication. Some 1350 CV’s will have the grease fitting and others will not.

Cost & Adaptability

A 1310 series CV drive shaft (typical application) will have a base price of ~$270. The 1350 series drive shaft would have a base cost of $399.
With either, you may also need to purchase a new out-put yoke for the transfer case. If so, budget another $60 to $110 for this depending on application.
We have many flange & yokes in stock and available for a wide variety of transfer cases for either size drive shaft. The 1310 series is adaptable to more applications than the 1350 series. Due to clearance issues, the physical size of the 1350 series may restrict its use.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/01/966.jpg
Typical 1350 Series CV Components

http://www.4xshaft.com/_vti_bin/fpco..._series_cv.asp

Just to add a bit to the discussion, it seems that based on the Rock Crawlers who punish their vehicles, the 1350 is the point where the unis are not the weak point unless impacted of course. The 1310's will see a Rover diff out, and the 1350 will see an LT230 out - but if you break the transfer then you were making a fairly significant effort to break it. What kills the 1310DC is a lack of lubrication issue of the centre bearing. There is strength or there is lubrication. Tom Woods now manufactures his own Rover 1310 socket flanges which has brought the strength back into the DC joint with lubrication by using cast steel. When discussing this, Tom did say that with the 1350, if there is a vibration in the vehicle, then the 1350 will amplify it due to the heavier mass of the shaft - just something to keep in mind. He also does custom shafts, and these discussions were from years back. 1310's is just what I have always ordered and most others have just done the same. He will make them with 1350's or whatever you like and will fit. If the pattern doesn't match then he will machine an adaptor - I've had these tested with no runout, so I'm assuming they are CNC machined.

Simon
Woods now have a flush type grease fitting for lubrication of the centre bearing of the Cardan joint,and they supply a Plews Lubmatic adaptor so that you can attach it to a normal grease gun to access the fitting

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Originally Posted by LowRanger

Simon
Woods now have a flush type grease fitting for lubrication of the centre bearing of the Cardan joint,and they supply a Plews Lubmatic adaptor so that you can attach it to a normal grease gun to access the fitting

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Thanks for this Wayne. I'd love to find out more about the adaptors.

Hi All,
From when i spoke with them last i think the shafts will be done to match the flanges you run as i was talking about getting D2 replacement shafts as well as defender/county ones and even custom lengths, but i will try and go past tomorrow and check with him... If anyone has any more questions about them let me know and i will ask while i am there.

The tom woods shaft and the other shafts out there all look good, but what i am trying to get here is get the best shaft possible that will handle some punishment in mud, sand, water etc and stand up to it for alot of KM unlike other d2 shafts etc i have used.

thanks for the info regarding Tom woods shafts, the info on the 1350 joints is relevant but im not doing a group buy for tom woods shafts. These are locally made by gibsons using european made DC/Uni's/shafts not tom woods. The quality is very high and they will be very well made. If your interested in getting some please let me know if you want to get tom woods shafts with 1310 uni's then do it, up to you im just trying to get something thats going to last me as long as possible from a shop i know does bloody good work, and i am trying to offer the same to anyone interested - the prices i have put up is the prices gibsons have given me, im not trying to make money off this.

BTW at the moment people who have told me they are definetly interested in shafts the count is up to 3 front 3 rear, with several more people who have expressed interest, we might be able to get the prices down another 50 or something if we can get 10+ but before he would commit to better price he wanted me to give an idea of numbers.

Regarding the strength of the shaft moving the "weak link" elsewhere, this might be a concearn some if your using it for extreme 4wding but i am looking at these shafts for my 130 which wont see crazy offroad use, just more touring style 4wding hence the need for a super durable shaft that wont need regular rebuilds.