this is the same truck with the wierd bracket by the t-case. its also the same truck that just had the front axle rebuilt. its my dads...aka thundersnow70. we picked up some new u-joints for the front driveshaft since everything else up front is new but something isnt right. the auto parts store said the shaft called for the same joints front and back but when we went to replace them the front is smaller than the rear. dad got out the 60 parts manual and it calls for the same joint so we got to thinking the yoke had been changed. we have a spare front axle and that yoke is the smaller one like on the truck. then we pulled out the spare front drive shaft and its way different than the one in the truck but the ends measure the same. we are pretty sure the po farmer joe blew-up the original front shaft and repaired it with some heavy duty slip joint. we will get the correct u joint by matching it up at the parts store but would like to know which shaft is stock. we are guessing the top one, which is the spare, and the bottom one has been modified.

any thoughts? thanks

 

For what its worth the top one looks just like mine.
Makes me smile to know you and your dad are working together on that truck.

 

Just what my eyes see, but it looks like the bottom shaft has been modified with a tractor or implement PTO spline. Anyone agree?

The upper sfaft looks correct.

Aloha

 

Top one looks stock, as the yoke with ID spline looks to have the screw in cap that helps keep the grease in the spline area.

The bottom one looks like a spline from a 540 RPM PTO on a tractor. One issue you might have with this is there is no easy way to keep grease on the spline and water, dirt, etc. out other than very frequent regreasing.

 

Ill cast my vote for the top one as it looks the same as my two front drive lines in a 63 F250 4x4 and a 65 F100 4x4. Both are factory 4wd trucks. I think Ford carried this same front end 4wd stuff up into the 70s.


Stock front

 

well......i picked up the right/wrong u joint for it tonight so we can put it back together. its suppose to snow friday so maybe we will have that tire test this weekend. we figured the upper shaft was stock but figured we would ask. i agree, the bottom one looks like it was repaired at the co-op or local tractor repair shop. it does seem like it is a bit over-built for the truck. i havent decided which to put back in. i will probably go with the farmer joe shaft just in case we decide to play a little hard and manage to break it. might as well keep the stocker for a frame off resto long after i am gone. and wally......let me tell you about working next to ryan..aka 63 flare side, if he had it his way we would be knee deep in 5 project trucks. he is my motivation but im having a heck of a time drilling into his head money-time and dads just flat out tired. its really funny to see people look at us when we talk about flatheads or crashbox four speeds. at 12 years young he was pointing out stuff at the iola swap meet and those old gear heads were looking at him wondering how someone so young knew so much. it was something to see.

 

And he did a way better job spotting deals and working over sellers at Iola than ol' dad...and me. Stu

 

Remember guys, the splined end goes at the transfer case, the fixed end at the differential.

 

since farmer joe installed the fancy tractor slip yoke with no seal i think i will put it in with the splines pointing down so if we decide to see if it will swim again the water can run out of the shaft.