Front Driveshaft Dilemma...

[Bronkitis]

1988 BII. Previous owner converted from auto to a stick which I believe is the mitsubishi out of another BII. The front shaft that came with it does not seem to fit. I tried to install it and the radius arm cross member seemed to bee in the way. Shaft seems like it would work if that crossmember wasnt in the way. This is my first BII and I have never seen a "proper" front shaft so I dont know if they are a smaller diameter than the rear? Not even sure the shaft I have IS indeed a front shaft! Can anyone help? Anything is appreciated. Thanks!

[Ranger Dave]

no need to remove the crossmember,it WILL go in. ya gotta be smarter than the shaft post a pic of the shaft

[Bronkitis]

I figured that it would! My concern is articulation as theres not much room between crossmember and exhaust. Are mods needed when lifting to crossmember? Hate to have everything bind up on me..... Will post pics asap. In the meantime, does anyone have pics of the front shafts? Maybe a pic of each that was offered in the BII's? Not sure what year tranny came out of nor the difference of any drivetrain related parts. Thank you very much!

[Ranger Dave]

[Bronkitis]

Looks like the correct shaft. Same as I have.... Heres a question-It looks as though the tranny mount is off of your xmember. The guy that did the auto to man swap in mine apparently didnt take into consideration different lengths... My tranny mount does not mate up with the factory xmember so he just welded the mount on the lip of the xmember.... I wonder if it now sits too low for the proper angle.... :( Thanks for the picsK You are cemmended for your timely responses!

[Ranger Dave]

the mount didnt line up cause i went from a FM145 to a 146. the 146 being longer

also in 88 the auto and std trannys are the same length

[Bronkitis]

So does that mean that the std. tranny came from a different yr? All I know is the tranny mount sits about 3-4" forward of the original mounting place on the xmember.... Must be slightly lower too. Will take pics when I get home tomorrow night. Thanks again!

[Ranger Dave]

what does the shifter look like?

[Bronkitis]

It's the tranny on the bottom with the nuetral switch directly in from of the shifter

[Ranger Dave]

than someone changed it. it should have the one in the bottom pic which is the top one in the top pic

[Bronkitis]

Someone changed it from an automatic transmission to a manual transmission. This I know. The tranny they chose for the swap is the bottom one in the top picture. Which transmission is that? Will have pics TONIGHT!!! That will help explain a lot Thanks for all your help

[Ranger Dave]

thats the FM145.

[drofman]

Dave the 1st thing is you got 2 many parts laying around. Could someone have put a Ranger tranny in this. The only reason I say this is because I broke my mainshaft 5th gear in 3 pieces (don’t go into O/D in low range stupid) and the cheap bastard I am, I got a Ranger tranny cheap and the mount don’t line up so the transfer case will be in a different place. I ended up using the tranny just used the 5th gear out of it.

[Bronkitis]

I suppose anything is possible. The guy I bought it from couldn't tell me anything about the swap cause' he paid his buddy to do it. He didn't even know why there was a jumper wire to start it! (Nuetral safety switch bypass)

I am on my way home now to take pics of everything I have been talking about. Should make this mystery a littler easier to solve

AJ

[Bronkitis]

Ok, just got under neath and retried installing front shaft. Voila! Got it in only to realize it's about 3" too long... Dang!

Which shaft do I need then....? Am I stuck shortening the one I have or can I use one from a BII that had the FM145 stock?

No pics tonight... Camera died first pic I took and I aint crawlin back into my truck again! lol