I had the double joint rebuilt on my front drive shaft about 8 years ago. I think the ball stud went out tonight. In any case this drive shaft has seen better days. The splines on the slip-joint are too sloppy to warrant rebuilding this one again. I think I'd like to try to get a used one from outside of the rustbelt (from California, AZ, TX, ect). What are the chances of finding a used 84 - 85 front shaft that's got good splines? -- Matt

I'd scout car-part and fleabay to see what's out there. Any driveline specialty shops in your area?

be sure to measure it.
there are many different lenths out there.

I'm just worried that what I find used will be as bad as what I already have. Of course they suffer much worse abuse here in the rustbelt. -- Matt

A few found on car-part.com Give 'em a call, shouldn't cost much to ship.

Don't know if they are suppose to work or not, but my 84 had bad shafts too when I got it several months ago.

My front had worn splines also. All my spare parts are 86 to 94. I replaced both driveshafts with those newer parts. I know they weren't 84 parts, cause I have none of those, so I know some of the newer stuff will just bolt on.

Also I just did away with the rear carrier bearing on the rear, and bolded on a newer style driveshaft omitting the carrier bearing.

It's my daily driver with no problems!!

Staceman,

I looked at those too. I'm skeptical about trying to buy parts from unknown auto recyclers when I can't check it out in person. Almost any '84 -'85 driveshaft is gonna have lots of miles on it, so it's critical to check it out carefully. I'm hoping I can find a reliable person, preferably from outside of the rustbelt, on 4x4wire, Marlin or YotaTech forums and do a private deal.

Got any friends over there in AZ who might have one of these? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


McQ

I'm not surprised that your front shaft had a bad slip coupling. In the rustbelt that joint get splashed with road salt if it's a winter driver and the grease picks up sand and other grit, that gets worked into the splines and grinds them down. But hey, mine lasted for 24 year without much care. I just don't want to buy one that's suffered the same conditions.

I replaced my two-piece rear shaft about ten years ago with a one-piece type that I bought from TAP Recycling in Rancho Cordova, Cali by phone. I think I paid $50 plus shipping for a nice shiny California driveshaft.

I had my '85 front shaft rebuilt at a local drive line shop. They put in a long slip Spicer/Neapco long travel slip yoke with a sealed end and fully rebuilt the CV joint. Still going strong now about 10 years later.

Well, when I bought my 85, it was from the original owner. A woman, who never used 4WD. Needless to say, the stock shaft was great. I still ended up cutting it up to build a long travel square shaft out of it anyways. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Check out davezoffroadperformance.com/, they are located here in CA. There is a used/new sale section on the forums. Dave is a fellow Toyota wheeler, and pretty much only deals in Toyota parts. He is a lot like Marlin, i.e, not out to screw anyone over and usually has fair deals on his parts.