thenrie

Driving home from work yesterday my carrier bearing let loose. Rather, it froze and completely tore out of the bracket. Never heard/felt such a racket! I have been hearing a slight hum (sort of a whirrrr) now for quite a while, but couldn't figure out what it was. Began to think it was the carrier bearing, but the thing never got hot, so I wasn't sure. Figured it would eventually get loud enough that I would be able to figure out for sure what it was, and I could fix it then, before it went completely out. Wrong!

I had EMS free-spin hubs installed about a month ago. Yesterday morning I backed into a bar ditch and had to engage the hubs and use 4WD to get out. I then disengaged the hubs and went to work without a problem, but when I left work for lunch to run a couple errands, I pulled out onto the road and felt something let loose and heard and felt something banging around. It felt like it was coming from the front end, so I thought my hubs or front diff had let loose. I looked and saw nothing amiss. Started driving again, carefully, and everything seemed ok. Figured I'd get her home and up on jacks and take another look. On the way I started hearing/feeling more clunking and chunking and turned right around and slowly drove straight to my mechanic's shop (under a mile). Got her up on the lift and it was plain to see my front end was not the problem.

So, I'm having a one-piece driveshaft made for me. I priced the ones at doghousediesel.com and www.thrashdriveshaft.com. Both were above $700 plus shipping. Found a local driveshaft maker who will make one for $550 out the door. So, hopefully by Friday I'll be sporting another upgrade for the truck.

I'll post pictures when it's in.

For those considering this mod, here's what I gleaned from the various threads on the topic:

The following pertains to a 2005 3500 DRW QCLB, 5.9 Cummins, NV5600, 4WD:

The NV5600 is about 2" longer than the G56 used in 2005.5 - newer trucks, so the one-piece OEM aluminum shafts for the 2008 - newer Megacabs won't fit, even though the wheelbase is the same. They must be shortened about 2" for a stock-height truck with the NV5600. The approximate length needed is 72" center-to-center on the u-joint, but you need to provide an exact measurement to the shop, to account for variations in truck height (lifts, etc).

Apparently, there is also some variation in the tailshaft that comes out of the xfer case. Some have 34 splines and some have 31 splines. I believe the higher spline count is the one with the larger u-joint (not sure on that).

The trucks with auto trannys use a smaller (1410) u-joint than the trucks with the NV5600 (1480), so if you plan to get the OEM shaft and have it shortened, make sure it is the one with the larger u-joints. OEM aluminum shafts use .094 wall thickness 5" tubes. The custom made ones use .125 (1/8" wall thickness) 5-6" tubes, depending on who makes it.

Shortening a shaft runs around $100 -150, and the base price for an OEM shaft runs from around $350-500, depending on your dealer, so for me, having it made was better. It will be a stronger shaft than OEM, and since I would need to have it modified, any warranty on the OEM shaft would be void, and the shop that modified it would not warrant it either, because they did not make it. So, I will have a stronger shaft, and I will be able to go back to the manufacturer if it should fail or be problematic and deal with them directly.

Next up: Either an 8-ton winch or an exhaust brake.

DBLR

Good Luck

thenrie

Got the shaft from the shop. I mean I got the shaft! The guy quoted me $550 and when I got the driveshaft back it was $800. He said I asked for some upgrades, like .125 wall 5" aluminum and 1848 u-joints. What happened was that when I asked for the quote I told him what I wanted and he argued with me about the u-joints. He said the 1841s were all he ever put on them, and I told him I had a standard trans and that my truck has AAM's equivalent of the Spicer 1848. In the end I just told him to put on there the size I have, whatever it is. I also asked how long it would take to get it done. He said he had to order parts and they take a day-and-a-half to come in. I asked if they could be over-nighted. He said they could and we left it at that (in other words, I didn't ask him to get them over-nighted, I just asked about the possibility). I'm still thinking that after all that conversation, we're still at $550, or thereabouts, since he never mentioned an increase in his estimate.

He ends up charging me $150 "upgrades", which I suspect are for the large u-joints (I was right about the 1848s), and $100 for shipping! We're going to talk about this tomorrow.

Long-and-short is, the drive shaft is a monster and looks like I'll never have to worry about whether it will handle whatever I need to drag around. Welds look good and it seems to be in balance. No bad vibes at 60mph. It is equivalent to the drivelines I have seen on the Internet and the $800 is actually about the average, including shipping, that I would have paid for one off the Internet. So, I expect I'll pay the man and be happy.

spoolinup

I can't wait to do the 1 piece drive line, keep us updated

thenrie

In the end, I was happy with the drive shaft. After talking with the shop I went ahead and paid the $800. To be honest, after talking with him and comparing what I got with offerings from the Internet, I paid about the same as if I had ordered one. I'm happy with it.

Just be aware out there. If you have a 3500 DRW with a manual trans, you need the BIG u-joints and they are not cheap. Consequently, your driveshaft needs the larger end parts, and they are not cheap. So, you can figure on paying more than your buddy with an auto trans.

Now, for the test report:

I like it! No more vibration when I get rolling! Smooth as silk. No more whirring from my carrier bearing (never could figure out what it was, but it's gone now!). Now all I hear is turbo whine, exhaust, and tires. When I thought it was only going to be an extra $300 or so for the swap (a new carrier bearing was over $217, plus labor), it was a no-brainer. If I had known it was going to be almost $600 more, not sure I would have done it (so I'm somewhat glad I got the bad news after the fact). I'm pleased with the swap and glad I won't be worrying about a carrier bearing in the future. You should see this driveline. It is truly a massive shaft! I have absolutely no concerns about ever twisting it. This is not an off-road truck, so I'm not too concerned about bending it on a rock. I like it.

Time for a Donaldson muffler, I guess.

P.S. I'll try to remember to get a few pictures posted...if it will quit raining long enough.

DBLR

Glad you like it and you don't have any more vibrations thou its sad you had to pay more for overnight shipping when it was not requested. BTW your driveline sounds like something you would expect to find in the 5500 trucks.

Scotty

I think i will go this way with my stretched MEGA. Is the two piece shaft there to avoid hitting something? My truck is a pavement princess so doing away with the carrier is not a concern if that is the reason for the carrier.
This will be one Looooong shaft.

I was going to spend an extra 100 dollars per shaft to get them balanced and then put a new carrier in. I will pass on that as that will bring me close to half the cost of a one piece shaft.

You have described what I have encountered...a slight shudder or binding when I start to drive away. I have been chasing that for a few years. I also have a vibration at 65-75 mph of which might be solved with getting the shafts balanced.

Can I switch to the bigger u-joints on an auto if I am replacing the shafts or does that involve parts at the output of the transfer case and at the rear diff?

Thanks for posting this as its helped me with a decision to resolve a few issues. When I get it done, I will post.

thenrie

If you have a stretched megacab, I think you will probably need to stay with the two-piece shaft. The max length for a one-piece is somewhere around 80" or so. I think you'll exceed that with your truck. The two-piece is engineered to use smaller diameter steel shafts, rather than the more expensive aluminum shafts. The slight wobble you feel at low speed is simply the wobble of the two shafts, but the wobble balances out once you get to a little higher shaft speed. Doesn't hurt anything, just irritating. As for the larger u-joints, I doubt you'd be able to twist off the 1410s that are on the truck now with an auto trans. The shock load on the u-joints is a lot greater with a manual trans, with no torque converter to absorb the shock. I suppose you could get the shaft made with the larger u-joints, but those 1480s are not cheap. Overkill for your application.