Anyone who has a Tom Woods Driveshaft Installed

[TJC]

More than one way to skin a cat!

You're on the two piece original driveshaft.

Tom Wood's driveshift has a grease fitting. Done in 5 minutes. I grease mine at oil changes.

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[NotBudule2]

I just ordered one, but I'm a little confused on the critical speed chart as people were saying they would be beyond the safe specs .When I put in 32 for tires and 3.73 gears, it shows me below the 4000 rpms even at 100mph ? Im not now nor was i ever afraid one would come apart but did I do the chart wrong ?

 

[Superspirit]

If you go by the chart with sae specs a member posted, the stock driveshaft reaches critical speed at around 80mph (IIRC). I've had the Tom Woods for 35k miles. Been to triple digits more than once with stock and 33" tires. I've never felt any problems or vibrations of any kind.
YMMV.

 

[NotBudule2]

It looks like they are sending bolts for the front flange , did everyone reuse the bolts for the rear or buy new as i think Ford says toss them, but that's most likely because of the loctite... they were tight, damn tight with a short wrench...

 

[TJC]

I don't recall which bolts, but I used Loctite Blue.

I have run the driveshaft calculator on both the Ford 2 piece driveshaft and the Tom Woods driveshaft. The Tom Woods outperformed the Ford driveshaft by a substantial margin... and I mean SUBSTANTIAL. 25.6% higher critical speed than the Ford stock driveshaft assy.

I posted the results long ago, and contacted Shawn at Tom Woods about my results. He knew the results before I told him. But he errs on the side of caution. He running a small shop and can't afford to get it wrong. He over builds and under states. He is simply being very prudent, and I would be doing exactly what he did if I were in his position.

The driving difference is nothing short of remarkable.

I'll try to find my original post on the subject. Found it. Lots of research and details in this post

 

[NotBudule2]

I don't recall which bolts, but I used Loctite Blue.

I have run the driveshaft calculator on both the Ford 2 piece driveshaft and the Tom Woods driveshaft. The Tom Woods outperformed the Ford driveshaft by a substantial margin... and I mean SUBSTANTIAL. 25.6% higher critical speed than the Ford stock driveshaft assy.

I posted the results long ago, and contacted Shawn at Tom Woods about my results. He knew the results before I told him. But he errs on the side of caution. He running a small shop and can't afford to get it wrong. He over builds and under states. He is simply being very prudent, and I would be doing exactly what he did if I were in his position.

The driving difference is nothing short of remarkable.

I'll try to find my original post on the subject. Found it. Lots of research and details in this post

I was never worried about the Tom Woods shaft spinning parts off, that's much more likely to happen with the factory driveshaft , I was just wondering how people were thinking they could excede the critical speed on that chart as my numbers were under 4000 even at 100 mph , making me think I used the chart wrong...

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

It looks like they are sending bolts for the front flange , did everyone reuse the bolts for the rear or buy new as i think Ford says toss them, but that's most likely because of the loctite... they were tight, damn tight with a short wrench...

In Kimball’s driveshaft slip joint lube video, he re-uses the factory bolts and adds blue Loctite.

By all appearances, his flange bolts were also very tight.

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[NotBudule2]

Just installed and test drove, unfortunately, I have a vibration at 45 to 55 so im gonna have to return i guess.

 

[Superspirit]

I'd call shawn and ask him what he thinks. There was one member that got a shaft out of balance but they took care of it. I wouldn't be in such a hurry to send it back.

 

[NotBudule2]

I'd call shawn and ask him what he thinks. There was one member that got a shaft out of balance but they took care of it. I wouldn't be in such a hurry to send it back.

I did , he said if it smooths out after 60 or so, which it does, its not a balance issue but maybe an "angle" issue... pretty noticeable at 50...

 

[Superspirit]

Bummer, how much lift do you have?
Mine is 2.5" in the front and 1" in the rear. I haven't had vibrations since installed. I Wonder if the ROW springs have any impact on this?

 

[quangdog]

As for your original question: My video on lubricating the slip joint covers how to remove the rear end of the drive shaft: https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/how-to-lubricate-your-driveshaft-slip-joint.16648/

The carrier bearing is just 2 bolts, and the front where this connects to the trans/transfer case (I don't recall which) is also pretty straightforward. Good luck!

 

[TJC]

Bummer, how much lift do you have?
Mine is 2.5" in the front and 1" in the rear. I haven't had vibrations since installed. I Wonder if the ROW springs have any impact on this?

The ROW springs should minimize pinion rotation, which stabilizes the angle. It should help, not hurt.

 

[Superspirit]

The ROW springs should minimize pinion rotation, which stabilizes the angle. It should help, not hurt.

That's what I thought. As I have the row springs and no vibrations since the Tom Woods shaft. All I had with the stock shaft was a launch shudder that went away @5mph

 

[TJC]

Just installed and test drove, unfortunately, I have a vibration at 45 to 55 so im gonna have to return i guess.

Have you checked your angles to insure you are within specs. Klein Tools 935DAG Digital Angle Gauge $33 works perfectly and you'll know within seconds. Both measurements should be within 5 degrees of each other. The closer the better.

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