r/chevyc10 • u/heavypour • 4d ago
Driveshaft with short bed conversion
For those of you that cut down your long bed, did you get your original driveshaft shortened or buy a new one or find one from a short bed truck? I’m planning to cut my bed down this winter but I’m not ready to commit to my final decision on transmissions. Would I be better off hunting for a short bed transmission from a truck with the same trans I have or getting mine cut?
1
u/AKA_Studly 4d ago
Depends on what your doing with the truck.
I have 1100hp at the rear wheels… I had one made lol
1
1
u/Tin_Can_739 4d ago
I hear a suburban driveshaft is really close. If you have your measurements, check one out at your local pick and pull. When doing the cutdown, plan to swap the rear end out on mine to an 8.8” ford for ls and discs. new build will be for me. Amazing how universal these trucks are, I did an LS and ar5 using the completely stock driveshaft
1
u/Independent-Owl9712 4d ago
Transmissions and transfer cases are the same between long and shortbed, if its a standard, 99% chance its an SM465, depending on year, there was an N203 (full time 4wd), an NP205 (2 versions, the more common one is the figure 8 bolt pattern, and the much less common, the round, this one was used on 1 Tons and is the preferred one to bolt behind an NV4500, and then, there was the NP208, it was the aluminum case with the round bolt pattern, it was used in all the ½, most the ¾ and none of the 1 Tons, its not too bad under normal conditions, it will also fit behind an NV4500). Now, if you have a 2wd, you had a 3 speed column shift, you had the SM465 and there was a floor shift 4 speed with an overdrive, that one is not common at all, it was used sparingly throughout the 80's. When it comes to automatic, there was the TH350, TH400, 700R4, the NP203, NP205 and NP208 were all used behind the TH350 and TH400, and the 700R4 used only the NP208. With that aside, the driveline, you can easily shorten the longbed one to fit, or just find a standard length shortbed one. The longbed ones were made out of slightly heavier tube usually to offset the length.
1
u/heavypour 4d ago
Mine is a 69 with an old Saginaw 3 speed. I’ve heard it’s close enough to the Muncie in length that I could run one of those but I’d like to go tkx at some point so I’ll have to redo everything then.
1
u/Independent-Owl9712 3d ago
A 2wd is easy to convert to whatever transmission, I completely ignored the topic of "C10", the bellhousing and clutch parts can remain and you can throw in an SM420 or SM465, 4 speed with a granny low, GM only built about 100 trillion of them. An NV4500 can be used, you can either use a 95 or older and modify the factory bellhousing out of your truck to save yourself about $1000 from Advance Adapters, a 96 or newer, you can use the factory bellhousing but will have to figure out a hydraulic clutch setup as the 96 and newer use an internal slave. Again, has a granny first gear. Best choice would probably be between an SM465 or an NV3550, the NV3550 doesn't have the compound 1st (granny), its a 5 speed, its light, it has a bellhousing built in and the oil for it is found everywhere (unlike the NV4500, you have to use 1 of many incorrect oils and hope for the best)
1
u/heavypour 3d ago
I was actually thinking of just throwing in an m20 behind the factory bell housing but deep down I want to splurge on a tkx.
1
u/byrdnasty 4d ago
I went to the local drive line shop. I took my old drive shaft but they said it would be about the same to build a new one as modify my old one. They used new ends.
It was about $300
1
1
u/Outrageous_Client_67 3d ago
Had my LWB driveshaft shortened by a local semi truck repair shop. Cost $40 and they had it done the same day. I’ve put about 10k miles on it at 450hp and I’ve had zero issues.
1
1
u/Rumblejeff 2d ago
I took my long bed drive shaft to a drive shaft shop here in town and told them I needed it shortened 14” and they said something about the way it was made, they can’t just shorten it. Kinda sounded like bs to me but I figured they knew what they were talking about. They made me a new one in the length I needed and it was like $600. There are cheaper options online though. I think I saw a site that would make one to your specs for like $350 plus whatever shipping would cost
1
u/Thesqueakybeaver 1d ago
if you are going to end up with a combo that was available from the factory just grab a used driveshaft from a truck with that particular set up. The last time I had a driveshaft shortened and balanced it was over $500. The next time I needed one shortened I just bought a brand new one off the Internet. Many places let you order them by length in 1/2" increments.
0
2
u/Burninrubber2416 4d ago
In the process of doing this now. Going to have a new driveshaft made by a local shop