Aluminum driveshafts

I heard the extended cabs have and aluminum shaft. What cab do you have? Is it a one peice?

i have the reg cab with the side step short bed and it has the factory "performance suspension". and yes its one piece.

i did a serch on the s10 forum and got this:
"I think all of the 01-04 Crew Cabs had aluminum drive shafts (all of the ones I have looked under did anyway)"
http://www.s-10crewcab.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5564

and read this as well
While i was in the process of building my truck i want to ditch the 2 piece shaft and put in a single piece steel. While i was thinking about this i found out that newer 2500 chevy pickups come with 4" aluminum driveshafts.
 
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Thanks for the info, Chuck. I have also read about the chevy shafts. I am hoping to find a shaft that is the correct length so i wont need to have it shortened. From what ive seen the extended cab is going to be my best bet for my 'manche.
 
I bought an aluminum driveshaft from shaftmasters.com for my supra. It is an awesome piece for sure and wasn't overly pricey for what it is. The stock driveshaft weighed in at 32lbs while the aluminum touch in at 11.5lbs.

I am sure shaftmasters will make you one given the measurements and yoke info. It may not be what your looking for if you are looking for a junkyard find off of another vehicle though.
 
My buddy hauls off lots of junk cars and we have found alum shafts in reg cab long bed 2wd Chevy 1500's and his extended cab short bed 2wd dodge 1500 is alum. He is building a extended cab S-10 2wd with a 439 and we cut the shaft from the 1500 Chevy to fit. Both are 4 inch.
 
Something to think about when working with aluminum: All aluminum products get the majority of their strength from heat treatment. When you weld aluminum, it looses ALL of it's heat treatment in the heat affected zone around the weld. This isn't a huge problem when you weld on an intake(or any other casting)as it's probably not tempered to begin with.

I don't know if the OEMs heat treat after final welding, or just size the aluminum components to be strong enough in a "T-0" condition, but you may want to find out which before you cut down and weld a factory aluminum shaft.
 
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