Couple questions someoen might be able to help with

[b3g5l]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking about for a month or so and finally joined today. I'm piecing together a motor swap for my 94 B3000. I havn't really seen much talk on driveshafts and am curious what my options are for that? I'm going to go with a T5 from an old stang of mine and make the bracket up for the clutch. Auto is just no fun for me. So is there a way to make the stock driveshaft work or another stock one work or will I need to have one made or cut mine or what? My other question is which mounts would you guys get between the Advance Adapters one and the Trans Dapt ones? I can get both of them through work so I'm going with one of them. lol Any help on this is greatly appreciated and sorry about the huge first post.

[bigburl]

Welcome to the site. You will find a lot of knowledge and help form the people here.(not me, the real guys) I don't think that there is any difference between the two. If that's what you choose to go with either will probably be fine. I started with the advance adapter mounts myself and have bought parts accordingly. If I wasn't as far into my project as I am, I'd use the L&L mounts that Malcom and Chris used. They look like a much better arrangement over all. Just my two cents.
Larry

[cgrey8]

I'm quite happy with my L&L mounts. However if I had it to do again, I'd reuse the stock rubber crossmember mounts and use flat plates to connect the engine to those stock Ranger rubber mounts. I don't know anything about the Advance Adapter or Transdapt adapters. But whatever works works.

As for the driveshaft, it's hit-n-miss. There are plenty of people who have lucked into the stock shaft working for them. Others that require the shaft be shortened. Although the trend is quite often that the shaft will need to be shortened. I'm yet to hear from someone that says the shaft wasn't long enough. I myself abandoned my stock 2-piece drive shaft (I have a supercab Ranger) for a 1-piece shaft.

[v8ranger]

I would think you will have to have a shaft made. Take your old one in and they can use the back flange that bolts to the rear end and then take the yoke for the t-5 and they can make the tube and put it all together for you. I think when I had mine made it was around $220 to $250 complete.
Welcome to a great site. You can get tons of great info here.

[b3g5l]

Thanks for the replys everyone. I ended up getting the Trans Dapt mounts. They come with the filter relocator piece and I liked what I had read on them. Plus I had something happen at work so I had to make a decision fast and thats what I did. After getting them though I think I would have just made some up myself like cgrey8 said. But live and learn I guess. I didn't pay much for them so the adapter was worth it I suppose. Well I'll keep everyone updated as I go along but won't be doing much till March. Too much other crap on the go and still trying to get some parts in descent shape around here. Thanks again guys.

[Chris]

I myself abandoned my stock 2-piece drive shaft (I have a supercab Ranger) for a 1-piece shaft.

How did you get around the crossmember that you swing bearing mounts to? I want to use a 1 peice shaft on mine but that crossmember is right in the middle of my driveshaft path.

[cgrey8]

I ground the rivits off the crossmember and removed it. I believe Malcolm tried to maintain his 2-piece for a while, but it was causing him vibration issues every time he installed his FRONT driveshaft (his setup is AWD). He got rid of the problem by converting to a 1-piece and hasn't had a problem since from what I understand.

[Chris]

I ground the rivits off the crossmember and removed it. I believe Malcolm tried to maintain his 2-piece for a while, but it was causing him vibration issues every time he installed his FRONT driveshaft (his setup is AWD). He got rid of the problem by converting to a 1-piece and hasn't had a problem since from what I understand.

And you dont have any frame twisting isues?

[cgrey8]

When I go over a speed bump or pop a curb, there is definitely twist. So yeah, there's frame twisting, but no more than I remember there being with the V6. But there are so many things that have changed and been upgraded since the V8 was installed, it's possible I just haven't noticed...the obvious V8 upgrade, upgraded front springs, front urethane bushings, new shocks front-n-rear, James Duff Traction bars, 7.5" rear upgraded to an 8.8" complete with a Powertrax Locker and rear anti-sway bar. If it is more, it certainly isn't enough to upset me in a daily driven capacity which is what this truck is for me.

There have been plenty of people that have "upgraded" to a single piece driveshaft. This isn't something new we've done. However if you will be pushing big HP numbers (i.e. 350+hp) through the truck, it may be beneficial to cross-brace the frame anyway. But that will mean abandoning your gas tank and relocating it either to where the spare tire is or to the bed. Cross bracing should help significantly with the frame twist.

[Chris]

I'm not going to be building that much power, stock heads with a mild cam. I was just more concerned with the daily driving aspect, ie: corners or highway speeds, or bumps. For now I think that's what i'll do, just get rid of the crossmember. I think later when I start putting real money and real power in it then I'll do some cross bracing. For now I just need to get this thing on the road!
Thanks

[MalcolmV8]

How did you get around the crossmember that you swing bearing mounts to? I want to use a 1 peice shaft on mine but that crossmember is right in the middle of my driveshaft path.

I cut mine and removed the passenger's side of it. I left the driver's side still riveted to the frame as a support under the tank. No I have not noticed any frame twisting or movement what so ever. There are plenty other frame braces on the truck. Mine's had over 60k miles on the V8.

[Warpig Racing]

I cut out the stock and replaced with a piece of 4x2 square tubing. See pics below. I had custom aluminum drive shaft made. It was not cheap. I think others have found an alum driveshaft at the salvage that was longer than needed and took it to shop and cut down. I think that will save you quite a bit.

[cgrey8]

Back when I was at that point in the swap, I was ready to pay a guy to make a 3" steel driveshaft and pay for a rearend yoke. Since I replaced my 7.5" rear for a wider Ranger 8.8", I was also going to need a larger yoke to bolt to the rear (7.5 and 8.8 rearend companion flanges take different size yokes). Instead the guy located a single piece 3.5" aluminum shaft complete with 8.8" yoke just laying around in his collection of old shafts. He sold it to me for $40 including the yoke I needed. It was 1.5" too long so I paid $70 to have it shortened & rebalanced. I also had to buy a cross-joint to adapt my T5's 1310 yoke to the driveshaft's 1330 U-joint size. So I came out of that deal with a shaft and rearend yoke for ~$150 with taxes. I couldn't complain about that at all.

The only problem I had with this setup is the large diameter shaft scrubbed the underside of the truck body forcing me to do some clearancing with a big hammer. Once all the scrub points were banged out, I never had a problem with scrubbing again. But if I had it to do over again, I would not have gone with a 3.5" shaft particularly given that I have a stock V8 in it and I have no intention of ever running more than 350hp with any future build. So there's really no need for such a beefy shaft. A 3" steel shaft would've been more than sufficient. Also note, if the truck had a body lift or been a 4wd, scrubbing probably wouldn't have been an issue at all.

As for handling, find a rear anti-sway bar from a yard if your truck doesn't already have one. That'll help far more than most anything else you can do when it comes to cornering or handling. But it doesn't compare to the drive difference you get from lowering it. If you want to spend the time and money in a spring flip kit and new front spindles, getting the truck lower will do FAR more for the handling than anything else you can do. Back when I was in high school, I would've lowered it if I had the money. But today, that look just doesn't appeal to me as much. I still appreciate the look on other people's vehicles. It's just not something I want for myself...not in a daily driver anyway. I still use my truck as a truck, so I need to maintain all of the utility capacity of it being a truck. Not to mention, I rather enjoy going 30-40mph over speed bumps without tearing anything up...speed bumps piss me off!