How High Performance Driveshafts Are Made

[@DwayneRouthierJr]

Thomas is a true craftsman and a real machinist.

[@biggutter3335]

In the late 80's my dad got me a job at a driveshaft shop with a guy who was german. He taught me how to pop ujoints out of a driveshatlft with a ball peen hammer. He also taught me how to weld the driveshafts by hand. After they cooled naturally, we hammered the weld at the low point to bring it into 10/1000 of an inch. No water cooling and no ujoint press. We also used a hammer to install the end yolks. We did everything from dragster half shafts , to cat d90 driveshafts and were the premier shop in the chicago market. It took a special skill to build shafts with a hammer. Anyone can use hydraulics to press a shaft together amd that is how you can keep the payroll lower. Imo. The hydraulic process did look cool. It wasnt easy using a hammer, but I wouldnt trade it for the hammer skills I still have from that job.

[@basswrangler170140]

Biggutter333 this is what I do for a living and we use hammers and never only use water to cool when we pull a shaft strait with a torch. Also alternating where u start your welds can counter how much the weld pulls the shaft.

[@ninotravis1341]

Worked I a crank can shop, same deal, stick weld, grind, balance, any steel crank.

[@stevescoville8465]

What was the name of the shop? I live in Chicago.

[@rotax636nut5]

Back in the day when I was 15, I used strip my old BSA C10L down using just a hammer and a screwdriver, never had any problem with removing the head and jug like this, all the nuts had notches in them so they could be tapped undone and done up using the screwdriver engaged in the notch, happy days..

[@yesode4201]

This guy is one of the those people nice but not a quality tech.

[@edburr3227]

These guys shorten and balanced my drivershaft, don’t hesitate to pay them what they’re worth! True craftsmanship!!

[@dntlss]

Ed, i had a question for ya, when one is messing with the driveshaft on a car people always say "Make sure you mark it now so you can put it in the same place!" now what happens when one buys a new driveshaft? is marking it a old wives tale then or is there some formula to this?

[@coryament]

@@dntlss you only need to mark a 2 piece driveshaft so you can align the 2 halves when you separate them

[@dntlss]

@@coryament I see, thank you for the info.

[@Stranger_Strange_Land]

This was amazing info! Very detailed without going into useless info. I am supposed to make a driveshaft in autocad for my engineering class and this definitely helped me get a better understanding of literally everything I needed for it. Thank you!

[@vwfez8697]

great to a see a hard working guy , building a sweet truck part . A true tradesman , knows his job and how to use the tooling . that's all you can ask for.

[@decoysk]

a true craftsman ! great job Thomas!

[@davewilliams1606]

We use to own a driveline shop not far from there in the high desert brings back memories they have pretty much all the same equipment we did well done

[@rusgeorge7356]

Tomas seems like he's Very good at what he does! A true professional at building drive shafts...

[@cadenbush9661]

I built driveline for quite a few years in my youth. There are methods and balancers that cut the time for this build by at least 75% of the time is see here (I know its edited). This guy is very thorough and i appreciate that.

[@cscarter71]

Quality work by a true craftsman. Great video.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

I love the press to fit unis. A shop that has been doing this for a long time.Older blokes, older [and good] equipment.

[@pugbug288]

Thomas is a true craftsman. Great job.

[@ronbellg2313]

great job amigos!! but be careful when polishing the drive shaft, specially with long sleeve shirts..because it can grab you and hurt you really bad or kill you.

[@katherinegriswold2471]

Oh hell yeah, have you seen "Work Accident" on the KZbin

[@henmich9954]

great video... very interesting and informative... I never would have thought so much work goes into a straight tube.

[@louisracicot7692]

As a DL tech, I love this. Great work.

[@MMFFcoverSTANG]

Real smart working on a car only supported by a floor jack. Quick way to meet your maker

[@michaelwurn6268]

How do you know that? The jackstands could easily be out of the camera view.

[@chrishart2064]

Great video, awesome to see every step of the process. Certainly looks like quality workmanship to me!

[@jimmorgan465]

Start your weld on the high side, one steddy pass, it will be near at 000" Try marking a .000 one and see what it does Never water cool the weld till it gets somewhat cool by air.I have not ballanced any , make them straight. Try the large truck Life-Line with hollow spline that goes oval while welding. I made 2000 in 2 years and built trans. and rear ends at that time. Spicer makes a bar , you can 3 jaw first end with the bar , put slip yolk on . then secod yolk . It's fast . I had to bore tube on trucks they are .012" tight , Too tight , bored to .004" .( 3 Piece Drive line with 2 carrier bearings $3700.00 , 6 hours , Good Money ) . If I do this again I will power feed the weld lathe . I used a hand wheel to turn , Circle with V on tube ajustable . Thanks for video.

[@flinch622]

***EP super premium is a lithium base grease. It's very good quality, but not recommended to mix with polyurea bases [sometimes used in sealed bearings]. If u-joints have a zerk fitting, make sure you know what you're pumping. Should you mix the two accidentally, it's best to clean and regrease your bearings. Things won't fail instantly, but failure will be early left uncorrected.

[@greeves380]

I'm seriously impressed with their work. Inland is going to build my driveline for sure.. Great video...thanks

[@mikejustice1196]

Did the welding of the weights add to the weights? How much did that throw it out of balance?

[@mykecollins3255]

That was awesome to watch. Nice job guys. I know where I'm taking my business. Thank you for sharing. Take care

[@fitteritout3622]

Great video I've had a couple drive lines made but didn't know that much effort went into building one

[@BMRStudio]

This dude just Awesome! God bless him for his work!

[@kevintucker3354]

I miss my blue 67 Plymouth valiant with a 340 and 727. It was a beast

[@MrGuvEuroman]

Good price! And great work! I'm shocked about how thin the walls are on drive shafts 😬

[@louisracicot7692]

The wall thickness is made thin so there is a little flex in the shaft as it rotates

[@brucemacduffee6969]

I was concerned about the 5-gallon bucket of grease with no lid on it. This is a great opportunity for chips and grit to contaminate the grease.

[@robertbragg9364]

We have a place near my house called Henderson Driveline & Axle, and they do great work. They're in Grafton, Ohio. I've had my chevy trucks and a Ford truck drives haft built by them several times now. They're not rude because you don't know what you're doing. They give you all the information to get your vehicle moving and they build a great product. These guys do quality work as well. I hate to say it's cheap but for the kinda quality it's definitely worth it 👌

[@JonDingle]

Pakastani Truck channel needs to look at this video. This is how a driveshaft should be made. Great stuff!

[@jimvogiatzis1384]

nice work thomas - you are a great worker,well skilled,fast worker,god bless you friend n great video

[@firstnamelastnameisallowed7943]

One very important thing when measuring for the drive shaft is the car must be at ride height. Not with the suspension drooped down at all or with to much weight in the back. Thought I would give that as a tip is all!! Cool video though!!

[@edmundooliver7584]

how can the suspension drooped with the jack under the rear end right in the center it only drooped if the jack is on the frame.

[@sdguy123]

Long sleeves up against a drive shaft spinning at nearly 2k rpm? No thanks, I'll keep my arms (and life) intact. All the safety nitpicking aside, nice work guys!

[@hibazenati5975]

how proud are you of your work congratulations from Morocco

[@MLFranklin]

Cool video. Thanks for sharing your skills and secrets. But please be careful, guys... Long sleeves around rotating machinery? It makes me nervous.

[@SamSam-ih6nt]

haha Thomas cracks me up. Old School OG. Don't find em like that anymore.

[@morganandcolleenbrady1248]

Great build coverage on the drive shaft. They do it right. Thanks for the vids

[@oscarwilliams5986]

Mr Thomas is a true craftsman 😎

[@MegaJohnhammond]

you can always spot the skilled craftsman when they pull out a cheesy tape measure.

[@edmundooliver7584]

I work on front end alignment and thats what I use for toe end because the equipment was never calibrated right .

[@99unclebob]

interesting how all you haters who probably have never changed a tire let alone a u joint talk shit, this guy built my buddies drive shaft for his car running just under a 900 wheel horsepower on an old fox body platform and has not broken yet after 7 years of racing and you say his work is no good, I say his work is excellent and his driveshaft is on its 8th season of drag racing in my buddies car, goes to show you know shit about nothing

[@weldmachine]

The haters have something to hate about Christmas Day??? I guess it,s how the video was made is more than lightly drawing bad comments. Mostly because no one ever sees there Drive Shaft built. They just pay there money thinking they got a great deal. You can only believe what they tell you at the front counter, and trust that the story matches the finished job.

[@PRSQUAD88]

That's a really good price I think I thought it would have been more expensive just because what they go through to make it

[@wmc9722]

It'd be interesting to see how the entire process could be done better. The way it is done here it's a bit of ThomasArt.... and less of a production engineering event. At 6:26 he measures the out of the box parts he knows well. At least you'd think he'd know them well. The size of a particular bearing is typically a constant.

[@MrMopar413]

I did that when I worked for Wagner Mining Equipment co. I built big ass drivelines for underground mining equipment. Great job worked by myself didn’t have to deal with shop B/S great job I can do that all day long , low stress level. And every machine that rolled out of the plant I’d look hay my drivelines at work.😃😃😃

[@stevee7774]

Wish I could score a job like that.

[@MrMopar413]

@@stevee7774 the guy that was doing drivelines for years got tired off it and wanted to go out on the shop floor. Once I heard about it through the grape vine , I jumped on it right away. I told the guy your nuts to go back out on the shop floor and having to deal will all the Bullshit. Work orders and supplies came in and completed drivelines went out. I could crank out D-lines in no time. The big point on my fast speed was I had blueprints for every job with the diamensions already figured out. It was just cut and weld. On the hot orders I’d crank them out so fast the supervisors would come looking for the order and I’d say their gone and at the paint shop, they where amazed. Doing that level of work the supervisors just left me alone, it was a awesome job.

[@publicroyalty760]

I would definitely support that business after seeing this video

[@akltom]

Thomas is doing great job for sure.

[@johnnydavis8351]

Damn needle bearing Jedi.... Making it look effortless... Arbor press... Nice 👍 very nice 👍🤙🇺🇸

[@m.s.l.7746]

Johnny Davis yeah I especially liked the part where he used those new needle bearings to press in the ends of the drive shaft... Hammered on it some... Then welded it with them in. Not to mention ruining the weld by running water over in afterwards... Or measuring exact measurements with a tape instead of a set of calipers....or getting under a car with only a floor Jack holding it up. I'm sure I missed lots of his other screw ups but besides them... Yeah he knows... How to speak English at least I guess.

[@WilleJamesHuff]

M. S. L. I’m guessing you have never been around a driveline shop In your life

[@stevee7774]

Whether he’s been around a driveline shop or not, he ain’t wrong.

[@bigredc222]

All the shade tree mechanics nit picking this guys work, are funny as hell.

[@vtownboxingfan]

As soon as he introduced Nacho, I got really hungry for Bean and Cheese Nachos!

[@TangentJim]

Another ethic slur -- You must be speaking from the mountain top .

[@shockingguy]

Very cool, glorious tradesmen hands there at work

[@saulperez7394]

Great info and fantastic jab

[@CarModsGarage]

nice video. I will contact them to order one for my drift car

[@mikeward2980]

Great craftsmanship I'm getting one from you guy's.

[@remige2006]

Two things surprised me for a machine shop. First, measurement are made with a regular tape instead of a fast , precise and simple caliper....and after welding the balancing weight, was the shaft rechecked ( for the weight added by the welding)?

[@waydejaynes1291]

Yes on tube with a small wall thickness it will always warp. I compensate with a little old fashion experience on the wall thickness and warpage. Most of the time leaving about 1 or 2 thousands run-out will compensate with a single weight welded on with .083 wall. Also tube diameter will change this because weights will be less effective on say 2 1/4" od wall tubing.

[@doesrealityexist]

My driveshaft shop in the San Gabriel Valley does not have a water hose in it, all metal is preheated before welding, then cooled naturally before balancing. U-joints are pressed in at the end and clean grease is used. THIS VIDEO is a great example of of how sloppy and quick work is accomplished and made to look good in the end.

[@doesrealityexist]

Also his prices in the VIDEO are way over priced. I've never paid more than $150 for a competition 1000HP rated driveshaft (I supplied the yokes and Spicer joints)

[@rallypoint1]

doesrealityexist where in the SGV is this shop?? Very interested!!

[@gostrydr]

Would suck if the seal on the hydraulic jack went out when you are under the car. use jack stands.

[@mikewelch3903]

gostrydr, Exactly!!!! NOBODY should EVER crawl under a car using only a hydraulic jack.

[@dominicpetruzzelli3134]

I did notice that too....once had a car fall on me.....not fun

[@dgrambo]

many guido mechanics been pinned under a fiat over the weekend. at least that what you tell the wives. ha, just kidding.

[@JasonTAho]

No kidding!

[@Brooklyn_Powers]

I was just under my truck taking measurements for my driveshaft. Thankfully I was using jack stands, because I noticed when I went to take the stands out and lower back down: My jack had went down! I always use jack stands anyway, but I was definitely glad I did this time.

[@georgierocket457]

Having to witness at age 10 ,my father almost torn to pieces by a rotatating pto driveshaft which grabbed him by a saggy armpit of the coveralls he was wearing untill it left him a naked blood mess and barely alive by the time it let go of him was all the lesson I needed on not wearing long sleeves near spinning drive lines.

[@rcworks9762]

35 year ASE Mater Tech here. As shop Foreman and General Manager I ask: "Where the hell are your jackstands?" If this is the second time I ask you this question you can pick up your last check from the office on your way home tonight.

[@larrychristopher9147]

What a great craftsman and awesome video

[@7t2z28]

That's a nice clean shop.

[@arturolopez7683]

Man this brings memories ! This was my first duty as a young tool maker I start as tool maker doing this job when I was 16 .im 40 now. Seen this video remains me how fucking stress I was doing this being scare to fuck it up lol and get my ads run off .by the way nothing clean as this shop lol

[@turbo.yota.]

Fun to watch and informative. Very cool👌🏻

[@snooka2484]

That long sleeve shirt is making my eye twitch! Good work though. 😎🤙

[@Chris-yy7qc]

Thats craftmanship right there!

[@battleaxcent4244]

Can someone explain the torch straightening to me? When i was young didnt have the money for professional so always have and will make my own. Nothing more than 400 hp, 480 tq. I get them to balance them for about 50$ is the tube and sleeve pinching when the weld pulls? And do you use the torch to adjust that and sometimes also use the pinch/ pull to correct the other side??? I usually drill several holes around and weld them further down before welding the top. Wouldnt you want to heat the entire thing, let it cool even then just balance it and not mes with heated friction tightening/ adjustments that could self re adjust? Or are they stretching the metal for permanant placement? Was looking at a few old ones i made when young. No balance weights on many of them, some one side, a few both sides because the shop said they were perfect. (They werent being lazy either. If they didnt need balancing i didnt get charged but they still sanded, painted and returned them with their logo. Id offer to pay but they only let me when it needs it. Never had one need a weight biger than 2 quarters and i still have some of my shafts running 10+ years no problems. i run everything hard. Also curious about the force they use to press the shaft on, that cant be good on those new u joins.

[@AMetalWorks]

Outside of my comment there is 1 out of 11 comments that isn't some jack off trying to nit pick about someone else's work. Anyway, thank you very much for the video. I've always wondered what the process was of balancing the shafts. You also may have just talked me into buying an arbor press without knowing it.

[@chuckels431]

Yup I’m just another jackoff that’s gonna comment on the sloppy and dangerous practices, everyone wants there &500 drive shaft ujoints greased from some open 5 gal bucket that’s collected all the dirt and other debris that’s flying around.

[@ellieprice3396]

chuckels431: The grease bucket was left open so viewers could see the contents. Otherwise the lid is always left on to protect against what you so ignorantly suggested.

[@khalilelarif2992]

chuckels431

[@brandonknight7240]

Alvarez Metal Works what!? Idiot

[@brandonknight7240]

chuckels431 ur an idioromous

[@oldprophet]

Nothing Like Precision Work.

[@larryharbin6802]

HOLY SHIT...THOMAS is TOMMY CHONG! LMAO!

[@351kostakis]

Fantastic workmanship

[@SpicyRok7482]

My Mama told me to NEVER wear LONG sleeves around turning machinery.

[@vici1986]

Try balancing at lower rpms. Like 800-1200. Ive learned that its best to balance it before it resonates. Im balancing on a Shenck HGB-30B. When balancing dynamicaly u need to calibrate it. Never works when im having resonans.

[@TheBugbugboy]

where is your shop, i think i would use your shop before inland empire.

[@freestyleskyline]

Very cool! Thanks for the in depth video

[@victorshaw7173]

nice work! I'd be careful wearing long sleeves near that balancing machine!

[@xr500t]

YIKES! "this guy makes a lot of money for Inland Empire" ..... Good god! I hope he measures the lash on those caps after he puts the retaining clips in!

[@youngestson65]

True American craftsman.

[@lozadazx14]

Tomas is the man !!! 💪🏻

[@elchongoblanco]

Very nice...but at least use a vernier caliper for measuring.....and cooling your welds after, not good practice!!

[@zone275]

On a shaft of this design its allowed 1mm+/- in length

[@angus3963]

I would have guessed over twice as much for that DS.

[@enriquelopez9124]

Awesome information, good tutorial.

[@amos3904]

i build automotive and truck shafts everyday. we balance truck shafts at 2000 rpms an automotive shafts at 2500 rpms and we spin race car shafts at 3000. you will be surprised how sensitive automotive vibrations are compared to truck shaft vibrations. 2000 rpms aren't fast enough to catch a automotive shaft vibration.

[@rx7cl]

Tomas is a bad brother.......... nice 👍

[@jcliffe8146]

Learn something new every day

[@TijuanaBorderJumper]

Damn I'm in San Diego... I can make the trip up there. I want one!!!😁

[@williwonkah.9242]

Please use jack stands. I'm sure you have a family that love you.

[@user-ks5ff]

Nice Prop shaft, but where are the drive shafts?

[@jerryespinoza2113]

I'm just glad to see that the car didn't drop on them

[@PatrickKQ4HBD]

I'm a little surprised that there were no calipers used for measuring. I guess they're standardized enough that a tape measure will work?

[@northwest_5oh3]

That's one of the cons to piece work jobs. The company makes a grip while the guy working makes a fraction.

[@wmc9722]

How do you know what the guy named Thomas makes? How do you know it's a piece-work job? Lame comment.

[@alejandrozurawlow3341]

Muy buen el balanceo compañero Pero debo aclarar que usted al enfriar.la.soldadura con agua a mi entender se producen fisuras en la soldadura Humilde opinión de estar equivocado saqueme de la duda y he de retractarme Saludos y que sigan los trabajos Muy buen video el.suyo

[@DerrickTheMechanic1975]

Well worth the price!!

[@burtvincent1278]

Did I miss it or was nothing said about phasing the u joints together, the most important step.

[@haroldcounts7460]

Thats a good video. U r good at what u do.😀

[@smellybox309]

he looks like walter white from breaking bad near like 14:50-14:55 hahahahaa

[@SmithTian]

yes Mr White

[@davebarron5939]

Very enjoyable, nice work.

[@darronmecak5720]

i would pay $430 for that.

[@rightsidelanechoice7702]

Distortion from wire feed welding the ends is the primary reason they came up with friction welding drive lines and such.

[@pumices9844]

Can you actually friction weld hollow tubing? I thought Friction Welding was for solid pieces only.

[@rightsidelanechoice7702]

Pumice S kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2K9pGuflt6XqpI

[@dennisemery07]

Crazy skills👏

[@Vmaxfodder]

Natcho natcho man ! To macho man tune !

[@jabbaweezy]

i agree appears well worth it!

[@brianbarbour2531]

Do you know what happens when you quench your weld, they get brittle and can crack

[@ericcphoto]

I was looking for this comment. I’m lost of words when I saw him cool down the weld with water 😭

[@markshort9098]

First to make the weld harden to become brittle it needs to be at red heat when quenched and you can't harden mild steel anyway because it lacks sufficient carbon content or other goodies to be hardened.. try it and see, I've tried to harden regular er70s6 mig wire and it didn't get any harder that I could tell, it certainly wasn't hardened to a point that it would be made brittle

[@martysheets6882]

What a Craftsman.

[@malaysiatanahairku6763]

1 more value knowledge i learn.

[@walterkersting9922]

I found the tape measure kept collapsing so I put it inside a 1" pic pipe( I got a long bed Chevy so it's 6'3/4"")

[@godfreypoon5148]

That's a bloody awesome idea. I wish I had thought of that, seems obvious now.