Junkyard driveshaft

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Travlr

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Joined
Sep 18, 2023
Posts
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Location
Central Utah
First Name
C
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
K20 Camper Special
Engine Size
350
I have a '78 K20 that has a lot of slop in the front drive shaft. It looks like it's been repaired on the farm and really needs to be replaced. I went to the local wrecking yard and they sold me one that looks very similar for $45, and I'd like to know if there are any concerns with replacing the old one with the other...

In the pic (shaft from the truck is closest in the pic) you can see that they measure out the same length and the two ends are the same, but there is a difference in the tube lengths. You can see the difference where I placed a putty knife next to them. As said, I doubt the one from the truck is exactly as originally manufactured as there are funky welds and no balancing weights on it. The '78 isn't lifted or lowered, stock height, so that isn't a concern.

Should I use the shaft from the wrecking yard? Were there any differences in square body front drive shafts that I should be aware of?

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Bennyt

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Joined
May 17, 2019
Posts
1,042
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Location
Surprise
First Name
Ben
Truck Year
1977
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
350
You should be ok running the junkyard shaft but...I'd double check that both the compressed length and expanded length are the same. It looks like the new one will have less travel possibly and you don't want it to bottom out. If it does, it can split the t-case as the case would be limiting travel.

If your truck has the 203 (full time AWD/4wd) I would make sure the shaft is balanced and fresh joints.
 

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