Help driveshaft confusion!!!

[454cid]

The pinion didnt have injected plastic, and the caps had inside snap rings that the straps hold in.

I didn't mean to indicate the shaft would be held onto the rear axle with plastic.... that would make assembly a bit cumbersome.

A conversion joint just means that 2 caps and distances between are not the same. Go pull one of the aluminum extended cab shafts and look, they have a conversion on the back.

Yes, I know what a conversion u-joint is, and that's not something I've seen used by GM. Looking at your tag line, I bet that's Centurions doing.

 

[deadbeat]

Nah, seen it on a 95 xcab.

 

[Supercharged111]

It's possible that the OP's truck and the junkyard donor have different axles, 8.5 and 9.5.

 

[deadbeat]

When I was having driveshaft trouble out of mine, which is different, I searched for combinations to try to get something the same lengths as my 2 piece. After looking at a few dozen in the local junkyard, I noticed the steel shafts have the 3r on both ends that must be heated the first time to change. The aluminum had outside snap rings that did not require heating factory and were a different size. I guess it is a bad idea to heat the aluminum so they did something different with it. It is possible he has a 14 bolt 9.5, in that case it is guaranteed he had a factory conversion, though it would be IIRC a 1350 to 3R.

 

[454cid]

There are plastic injected aluminum shafts.

I don't see why GM would ever use a conversion joint....to easy to spec the right pinion yoke.

 

[deadbeat]

Alright, I'm done debating about it. Show me a factory pinion yoke with outside snap rings on a 10 or 14 bolt gmt400?

 

[454cid]

Are you thinking the attachment mechanism determines the size? If so, that's not correct.