Prop Shaft

[Rek]

I seem to have a different propshaft than that which was originally on my car at manufacture. The positioning of the of the bearing along to prop shaft does not marry up with the bearing support on the body of the car. The previous owner fitted the bearing upside down and placed it just in front of the parking brake bracket, bolted to the body. Because its upside down, it's too close to the exhaust and the bearing softens when the exhaust gets hot, causing a shudder in the drive train.

I have suspected that my car might have been an automatic originally but is this a reason why the bearing and the support don't line up? Is the prop shaft of an automatic different?

 

[sfdon]

A picture would be nice.
Auto and manual have the same rear section.
The fronts are different lengths.

 

[Ohmess]

I know I had my driveshaft modified when I removed my automatic and installed a 5 speed. According to Carl Nelson's 5 speed conversion instructions, the driveshaft changes depend on what was originally installed in the car. To modify: "shorten a 4 speed by 3.75 inches or lengthen an automatic .75 inches."

 

[Honolulu]

Carl told me many years ago that using the AT shaft in a 5-speed conversion "we do it all the time".

 

[Ohmess]

Carl told me many years ago that using the AT shaft in a 5-speed conversion "we do it all the time".

Yeah, I can see that. You can move the center bearing up or down to get the longer shaft in there, and given how well engineered the parts in our cars were, it might be five or ten years before that becomes a problem.

And you could have quality problems with having the driveshaft lengthened. But I wanted a proper driveshaft alignment, so I paid to have my driveshaft modified.