Drive Shaft Tolerance
 

Can some one tell me what is an acceptable runout on a drive shaft.

Thanks

Greg

i would say none. if you have a problem take the shaft to a driveshaft to a driveshaft shop and they will check it for being bent and /or out of balance.

I had less that .002 wear in the rear bushing of my automatic trans and a new bushing smoothed things out. That was an eye opener!

To make it clearer, if it is not straight and balanced you will have a problem

Max runout on a steel driveshaft is around .010” at the center of the shaft for factory tolerance. Most good shops get it down to .005 or less.
You would have to be some kind of ninja to get a 50” long welded shaft to .000” across its entire length.

Thanks for the replys mine had .050. So he is making a new one. He said .015 is the most out of a used shaft.

Greg

Ive seen bent / undersized driveshafts break auto trans cases starting where the bellhousing narrows down near the pump.

My Trailblazer had a horrible shake at ~74 mph. Rear U-joint was toast. I took the shaft to the local fabricator, they put in two U-joints and put the shaft on the lathe. They said it was .050 TIR, and they straightened it to about .020. Trailblazer was startlingly smooth afterwards. Lasted about two years.

The warp must have come back, 'cause I had the same shake at the same speed, only this time the front and rear U-joints were still good. I slapped a Treasure Yard driveshaft on it after replacing only the rear joint, and it's back to being nicely smooth again.