Whats the going rate for shortening a driveshaft? I think I got....shafted

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crazy4offroad

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Key word was "aluminum". Shortening a steel shaft around here in WV is under $100. Lengthening can run into more, considering they want new tubing. It's best just to bring it in and say work me up something that wont make my wife wanna kill me lol. They have all the yokes and parts needed at a good driveline shop to make the process easy.
 

WP29P4A

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Brand new everything: tube, yokes & two u-joints. Balanced and delivered was just under $810 CAD..... so about $28 USD with exchange.
Is this string of words implying that, $810 Canadian dollars equals $28 American dollars?
 

Grumpy

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Is this string of words implying that, $810 Canadian dollars equals $28 American dollars?
It would have been $40 Canadian Pesos, but I had coopins.
 

Gguy1

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WARNING: Partial Rant

I'm putting together an LS with a 5 speed trans (NV3500) 2WD in a SWB. The truck did not come with a driveshaft/drivetrain when I got it. I found an S10 NV3500 on craigslist. The guy sold me an aluminum driveshaft for $25 too that I knew I'd have to shorten. I installed the trans and got the shaft shorten by a local machine shop for $95 but they could not balance it as they aren't a driveshaft shop. Sounded all like a good deal until the transmission turned out to be junk. I found another NV3500 from a Sierra and went to put it in. I knew the s10 trans had different gearing than the 1/2 truck transmissions, but I did not know the 1/2 trans was almost 2 inches shorted than the s10 trans, or that it took a different slip yoke, or that the shifter location is in a different location (I know, I'm amateur)....I now needed a longer driveshaft. Looking online, a new custom shaft would be about $500, so I thought I could do better getting one used and shortening it. Maybe I'd get lucky and find one the right length and with the right slip yoke at the junk yard. Not so lucky, but I found one I could shorten, and this one didn't have the dumb nylon u joint clips the first one had. I paid $75 for the shaft. Then I bought the slip yoke online for $80. I took the shaft to a driveshaft shop (now there is a local one where I moved to). They charged $300 for shortening it, adding 2 u joints, and balancing. Seems high to me, but if you can't tell already, I'm building blind over here. To be fair, if someone gave me $300, its not like I could shorten a shaft. Plus, they seemed to have done a nice job and even polished this thing. Its the shiniest part on the truck. Photos include the shaft next to the older shaft thats too short for reference.

Apologies for the rant. But did I get taken for a ride or is that price reasonable?

Thanks for listening/reading.

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Here in Northern NJ, everything is more expensive, but seems like a bargain, I get $250.00 just to show up for a service call, but then again 1000 square foot house here is close to a half million with 10G plus in property taxes
 

Gguy1

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Elliot,

How long is that shaft? I'm surprised you don't have a two piece shaft with a manual trans in a 2wd long bed? As soon as I swap my T case over from the 208 to 205, I'll be needing new shafts. According to my measurements, that puts it at like 65+ inches. Nobody will make me a shaft over 63 inches due to whipping (vibration) issues. I'm planning on a two piece setup cause I ain't spending 700-800 bucks on a big fat aluminum shaft.
My 76 with the heavy duty 3 speed Saginaw transmission has a 2 piece driveshaft, hoping to put a Tremic in next year
 

SquareRoot

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My 76 with the heavy duty 3 speed Saginaw transmission has a 2 piece driveshaft, hoping to put a Tremic in next year
4wd, long bed?
 

Elliot W

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Elliot- you did a nice job, I like it.


Elliot/ Craig...you guys on the stevesnovasite.com? I'm, 63ssiisfv2dfw over there.
Thank you! Aside from the paint and body, I built it in a storage unit, so given those limitations and my own experience I certainly appreciate the comment. I'm on stevesnovasite username elliot727
 

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