Almost any lifted Samurai has issues with the front driveshaft because of the angle at which it's forced to operate. The increased suspension travel creates U-joint bind. Also, since we'd installed Toyota axles, we required custom driveshafts with a Toyota flange on the axle and a Sami flange on the T-case. The Sami driveshaft flange fits on the Toyota axle flange but it's only bolt-centric and requires the bolts to be tightened more frequently. The Tom Wood's custom driveshaft uses a Toyota flange on the axle side and a Samurai flange on the transfer-case side.
A conventional two-joint driveshaft was used up front. In order to fit this setup, it requires a Suzuki front output flange from an '88.5-and-newer Suzuki transfer case. With this flange, the bolt holes are in the correct location, and all that is required for fitment is to enlarge the pilot about 1 mm. OE-style Toyota parts are used throughout the driveshaft, and it is designed to flex to 40-42 degrees. Also, the narrow diameter of the slip-yoke neck will help to eliminate clearance issues with the crossmember when this end is installed toward the transfer case. Because of the steep angles we figure on experiencing, a slight amount of vibration at higher speeds is expected.
For the rear of the RocZuk, Tom Wood's recommended use of a CV (double-Cardan) driveshaft to achieve the best driveability. Though the new driveshaft was a good fit to the rear axle as it was, we'll ultimately end up rotating the rear housing upward a bit to better maintain proper CV operation. We may be able to achieve this through the use of shims under the spring packs but will more likely torch off the spring pads and relocate them.
With the increased degree of suspension travel achieved through the longer leaf springs, we required driveshafts with enough built-in slip stroke so that they could get longer and shorter as the suspension cycles. The Tom Wood's driveshafts offer a massive amount of slip stroke for extended travel. The rear uses a CV driveshaft and an adapter at the transfer-case flange. The shafts were created using 2 1/2-inch-diameter, 0.120-wall tube. The adapter is machined from T6 aircraft-grade aluminum billet.