How To Measure a Drive Shaft

How To Measure for a Driveshaft

DO YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO MEASURE A DRIVESHAFT?

Correctly measuring your driveline is paramount to ensuring you get the quality product you need.  Because we are committed to providing you with the highest quality custom drivelines, we pay personal attention to every customer and every application.

For instructions on how to accurately measure your driveshaft, use our illustration.

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Please call us toll free at 1-800-344-5141 and speak to one of our highly trained staff.


When you are in need of a drive shaft, having the proper measurements are very important. As Vehicles change practically every year in some form or fashion. Therefore, having the correct measurements mean just as much as being able to provide us with the year, make, and model of your vehicle.  We recommend using digital calipers to measure the smaller parts of your drive shaft for increased accuracy. However, a regular ruler will work fine as well. For the overall length of the drive shaft, we recommend the use of measuring tape.

One important part when obtaining a correct measurement on your drive shaft is the knowledge of your drive shaft configuration. There are 4 common types of drive shaft configurations:

  • End yoke to end yoke (Measure from the center of one U-Joint to the center of the other U-Joint)
  • Spline to end yoke (Measure from the tip of the spline to the center of the U-Joint)
  • Flange to flange (Measure from the face of the first flange to the face of the 2nd Flange)
  • End yoke to flange (Measure from the center of the U-joint to the face of the flange)

For safety reasons, it is definitely in your best interest to take precautionary measures when measuring a driveshaft. We thoroughly recommend the use of jack stands and vehicle lifts for your protection.

Another important part when it comes to measuring a drive shaft is identifying the U joint series.