Rockwell Drive shaft mid shaft bearings and carrier

GT_Buggy · Feb 23, 2015

I am working on a rock well buggy build and I am looking for some advice for drive shaft mid shaft bearings and housings. Does any one have any pictures they can share and where they got their bearings?

greenlion · Feb 23, 2015

I used the pinion shaft out of a rockwell third for my front mid shaft. Turned it down to slip in two 1 5/8" pillow blocks. Used spacers between the blocks and the flanges. Bolts up to stock style rockwell driveshafts.

hokie_yj · Feb 23, 2015

I thought about doing that on the buggy I'm building as opposed to buying one of the double yoke carrier bearings. I just didn't have enough room to make it work.

And the whole time I thought I had this brilliant, completely original idea in my head. Lol. Good job though, glad to see it actually done.

GT_Buggy · Feb 23, 2015

I like that idea but not sure if I will have the space either. Thanks for the picture gets me on the right track to start thinking on this.

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GT_Buggy · Feb 23, 2015

Where did you get the double yoke carrier bearing? Thanks for your help.

hokie_yj said:
I thought about doing that on the buggy I'm building as opposed to buying one of the double yoke carrier bearings. I just didn't have enough room to make it work.

And the whole time I thought I had this brilliant, completely original idea in my head. Lol. Good job though, glad to see it actually done.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

hokie_yj · Feb 23, 2015

GT_Buggy said:
Where did you get the double yoke carrier bearing? Thanks for your help.

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I wasn't able to use a double yoke setup because of length. But WOD has a really nice one. I ended up going with their standard single yoke carrier bearing that they put in all their trail rigs.

Nuts · Feb 23, 2015

I stole this picture from a friends FB page, but mine is set up the same and I actually gave him the pillow block. Not sure where they came from but I had 2 pillow blocks that were just a little bigger than the O.D. of the female slip on a Rockwell drive shaft so I made a spacer/shim to make them a press fit.

xjpaddler · Feb 23, 2015

A1-15/16 pillar block or 4 bolt flange bearing will fit a stock 2.5 ton yoke once you polish the paint of!

fordcontraption01 · Feb 24, 2015

This is how I did mine. It's a hee man machine one and so far been great. It's his first version.

Elliott · Feb 24, 2015

Why wouldn't you just raise your motor a touch and turn it a little bit to give you drive shaft clearance around your transmission pan. Then you wouldn't need a carrier bearing. I also put a long slip on my front shaft with the slip being at the case end of the shaft for extra clearance.

Rockwells607 · Feb 24, 2015

I use two piece rear drive shafts outta truck and cut them down , they use a carrier bearing and can be replaced for 30$ at any parts store

greenlion · Feb 24, 2015

If you use the double bearing setup and put it in a parallel plane with the transfer case output, you can use single joints everywhere and still have equal and opposite angles at all joints. No driveshaft vibes this way. Mine is smooth to about 80 MPH.
I don't see why you couldn't cut several inches out of the center of the rockwell pinion shaft and sleeve/weld back together to shorten it some, if needed. The full length one worked out pretty good in my rig as the mid shaft ends just past the starter motor. The front axle is pretty far out front, ahead of the motor, so I have a long enough front driveshaft section.

SHELBS44 · Aug 4, 2017

Bumping this rockwells607> Nate what kind of driveshaft you use? Just figured out my front and rear will need a carrier bearing.

DiscoDino · Aug 5, 2017

I called Jesse at High Angle and he built the front pillow block drive shafts...bolted it up and wheeled...not much tech...but I did go as small as possible yet coping with 1410s and the RW2.5s