I am in mock up on a 29 phaeton, and have a 40 rear end installed. I measured and cut the torque tube, and had the drive shaft shortened and re-splined. Today I pulled the torque tube and installed the drive shaft to see how everything fit. From the face of the torque tube bell mouth, to the face of the drive shaft is about .320 thousands. It has been a while since I worked on the car, and I have managed to lose what ever paperwork I had before shortening the works. Is this measurement somewhat correct?
I don't know about the exact measurement, but the inner "dome" that goes around the u joint fits in there, and the u joint protrudes a little bit. From where I'm sitting and to my recollection, it looks fine, as there can be some variance in how much spline the u joint will grab on the driveshaft. To me the more important measurement is the torque tube, so there is a good seal at the clamshell so it won't leak like a sieve. Wait, it's an early Ford, it'll leak there anyway. Edit: You really need to just mock it all up and see how everything goes together, but I'll bet it's fine.
I resolved my concern on the measurement, by installing the bearing, washer, speedo gear, and snap ring. It all seems to fit normally, so, the drive shaft dimension is right. On to the next hurdle...
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