shortening drive shaft. u joints and bearings

[flyingfool]

so i was doing some research calls, and finally found a guy that would shorten a bmw drive shaft (lotsa ppl wont do it?) and he was saying the whole deal about the joints need to be good, and bearing changed. my question is how do i tell or get an idea of the condition of the U joints ? would they be loose? bent?

just trying to save some cost here. as to have em re bored and stuff would be about $600. kinda steep.

and since the trans for a five speed swap comes outa a 320, could the drive shaft also be used? mabeye in better shape.

[TobyB]

we already tried. All the dimensions are different,

auto, manual, 528, 533, whatever- they just don't quite work.

sorry.

t

[jerry]

i'm having a driveshaft shortened and rebuild by San Leandro Driveshafts in San Leandro. around $400, not $600. may be worth a drive, and they are well-versed on the 2002 driveshaft. was recommended by another FAQ'r to me.

as for the u-joints. rotating them should be smooth. there should be no notchiness felt. per the discussion i had with the guy, the u-joints on BMW is problematic because there is not enough flex to facilitate the rollers to rotate sufficiently to even the wear. proper installation of an 02 driveshaft should be straight. look at any 2-piece driveshaft on an old pickup truck and they are typically bent at the u-joint, thereby allowing more rotation of the rollers within the needle bearing. sounded like a plausible explanation to me....

[flyingfool]

hmm, yea might be worth looking into. IF. and my gut feeling is a BIG if, the joints are good, it would only be 200 where im calling,. pretty normal there.

do you have contact info, adress for the shop in san leandro?