WTB - Z31 300zx Driveshaft for Challenge car

I'm looking for a good driveshaft from a manual transmission non 2+2, non turbo Z31 300zx to replace the one that I broke at the Challenge last year. I'm having trouble locating one locally here in the DfW area, seems the supply of Z31 in junkyards around here has dried up since I picked up the previous one 9 years ago. 

In reply to bigben :

I thought you just broke the U joint.  Did you break the flange?

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

You are correct. It was just the u-joint that snapped but the during the one pass I was able to take with the patched up shaft and reused old u-joint, one of the caps came off and the joint banged around in the yoke a bit. After cleaning up the raised metal in the bore the cap is not a tight fit in the bore. But the main thing is that all of the available replacement joints are weaker than the factory u-joint. They are all greasable which means there is a hole down the middle of the pivot shaft, and since the original joints were swaged into the yoke the fancy replacement joints use snap rings on the inside of the joint which go in a groove on the cap. This requires the cap to be thicker on the replacement joint which in turn makes the pivot shaft smaller. A double whammy. Not good for trying to put power to the ground on launch. 

Which joint would you rather use?

I'm actually wondering if there is a Nissan pickup driveshaft that uses the same spline yoke. I think some pickups used a variant of the same manual transmission but I haven't been able to confirm.

So you'll be wanting a 30/32 trans yoke .  That is a 32 spline shaft with two gaps.  Most likely the smaller 4 bolt rear flange.  Those will be 1310 u joints.  The problem is just finding a 1310 driveshaft the correct length.  The first two you should be able to find at any junkyard.  Off the top of my head pretty much any 90s to early 2000s Nissian will have either the yoke or flange or both.

There's some custom junkyard driveshaft talk on this page and goes into the next page.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/team-stampie-project-ta/153693/page11/

Bunches of links in here to find a factory driveshaft the right length.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/the-u-jointdriveshaft-thread/167444/page1/

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

I'm pretty sure its actually a 22/24 spline count on the trans yoke. http://www.northerndrivetrain.com/product/PTI-1203-24.html 

The driveshaft that fits the SR transmission is the 2nd one down on this link. http://www.xenonzcar.com/z31/Driveshaftinfo.html

Apparently the transmission used in the NA manual trans Z31 is the same as the SR trans. FS5W71C  Some sources make it looks like it is the same trans used in some 2.4L pickups but another I saw made it sound like the truck uses the Z31 turbo transmission. 

If it just damaged the yoke u joint hole you should be able to just replace the yoke itself.   That's assuming the two driveshaft holes are still good.  Did you count your current yoke splines?

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

Yes I counted the yoke splines and measured the OD and it matches the yoke and driveshaft in both the web pages I referenced above. Even if I replace the yoke I am still stuck with the tiny replacement u-joint that is a lot weaker than the factory swaged in joint. That's why I'd rather find a whole Z31 driveshaft or find an alternative one that will fit.  I tried out the Ebay search tip from your thread and found several shafts that are about the right length. I just need to see if they use a joint that is compatible with a yoke that will fit my trans.

Here's a picture of the splines on a 240sx yoke that I use as a plug to keep the lube from spilling out of the transmission when I remove the driveshaft. 

I just looked at the yards in town.  The one I don't like has an 87 z31 auto in the yard.  I don't know how much free yard time I'll have before Challenge but would that work for you?  They charge $23 plus $4 entry fee plus tax and whatever nickle and dime they can get.  I can deliver to the Challenge.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

Thanks Stampie I appreciate the offer but I don't know if the driveshaft from an auto will work and it doesn't look like I will make it to the Challenge this year anyway.  I guess that's two strikes on me. But at least I have a year to find the right driveshaft.  I think I'm going to look closer at the Nissan pickups. If what I'm finding online is correct a 4cyl manual trans should have the same spline and some of the later one came with replaceable 1310 u-joints which should be stronger than the stock Z31 u-joints.

seems the supply of Z31 in junkyards around here has dried up since I picked up the previous one 9 years ago.