On Project Grandma, we needed a drive shaft that could hold up to 1,000+ horsepower that the Edelbrock 555 would be producing. With our TCI Powerglide, Currie 9-inch, and ’78 Malibu – something off the shelf would never do. We went to the expert drive line experts of Strange Engineering for a chrome-moly shaft that would do the trick.

You can check out more info on the drive shafts Strange manufactures by visiting their website.

Strange was able to custom make a drive shaft that would fit our application: they cut up one of their new chrome-moly drive shafts that is more than capable of handing the power output of our engine.

Strange offers a few options when ordering your driveshaft starting with the size: you can select 3.0-inch or 3.5-inch tubing diameter. We went with the 3-inch version on Grandma because we were under the 1,400 hp mark, but no matter which size you choose both comes with Spicer u-joints and a custom Strange Yoke.

The weld-ends are made from a 4130 forged chrome-moly and are offered in 1350 or 1480 version.

Before Strange ships any drive shaft, each is electronically balanced. Strange claims that these have a total run-out of lass than .008” which means no worries about this drive shaft spinning itself to pieces. You can get anything from the complete drive shaft package like we did, to just a yoke from Strange, and their website can assist you in determining what you need.

How-To Measure For A Drive Shaft – According to Strange

Strange has a bitchin guide to measuring a drive shaft on their web site. Check it out here.

As mentioned, this drive shaft is a custom length and there are some misconceptions on how to properly measure for your drive shaft. We got the straight answer from Strange and here it is. What measurements you will end up sending Strange is dependent on what is it you exactly need. If your car is like ours and you need a transmission yoke and a driveshaft you need two measurements.

First with the rear end as close to the transmission as possible, measure from the end of the tail housing to the tip of the yoke on the rearend. Next, you will need the length of the output shaft sticking out of the back of the transmission. If your car doesn’t have a 1350 series yoke on the rear end, you will also need the diameters of the two different ends on the u-joint and will require a conversion u-joint.

If all you need is a brand new drive shaft the measurements are a little different, but still really straight forward. If you are not using a 1350 series yokes you need to to measure the dimensions of the u-joints you would rather use. Then measure for the overall length of the drive shaft using the center of the u-joints as your points of reference. Strange recommends if they are not supplying the yoke for your build, that you send them the yoke you would like to use. That way they can insure the drive shaft is balanced as accurate as possible.

These are the two measurements you will need to take of your u-joint only if you are not using a 1350 yoke.

Best of all, it only takes Strange about a week to pump out your driveshaft according to their website and pricing on these start right at $239! With our options, our driveshaft was still under $400.

Installation only took a few steps. First we slid the transmission yoke through the drive shaft loop under our G-Body and into the back of our TCI Pro-X. Next, we linked the u-joint on the back of the driveshaft to our Currie F9 rearend and tightened the clamps to cap off our install.

Thanks to Strange for hooking us up with one of the best drive shafts in the business!