1970 Barracuda - El Cheapo Driveshaft Loop


A driveshaft loop is something I've been wanting to do for a while, to try and get rid of those "pole vaulting 'cuda" nightmares. :-) I actually do have a generic Lakewood driveshaft loop around here somewhere, but it was obvious it would need some modification to work in the car, so I never got around to installing it. Since I wanted to get going on installing the carpet pretty soon, I decided I should get *something* under there. The solution, for now, is my "El Cheapo Driveshaft Loop" :-)

I don't have any illusions that it would actually pass an NHRA or IRHA tech inspection, but I didn't really care about that since this is a street driven car, and all I needed was something to keep the driveshaft off the pavement in the unlikely event of a complete failure of the front u-joint.

This page documents the solution I came up with. I am actually somewhat dissapointed in this effort, as it didn't occur to me until I was done that the loop is probably a bit too far forward. It is basically underneath the driveshaft yoke, so it would take a beating and make a real racket if the driveshaft ever dropped down onto it. It should probably be back further, under the "smooth" part of the driveshaft. This was basically a result of trying to get something done in a hurry and not taking enough time to think everything through. I might look into modifying this in the future, but this is certainly better than nothing and should suffice for now.


Click on any pic to bring up the full sized version. Note: it may take a little while for this page to load, depending on your browser. Its set up as a table, and some browsers wait until the whole table has been loaded before displaying it. Just give it some time. :-)
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This is the solution I came up with. I bent the 1.25" x 1/8" strap to rest flush against the floor under the car, and used a couple more pieces as hangars, to go inside the car. (I welded carriage bolts into the top straps.)
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This is what the driveshaft loop looks like, installed on the car. (I powdercoated it and the hangars flat black.)
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Another view...
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Another view...
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Another view...
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Another view...
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Another view...
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Another view...
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This is what the hangar looks like, inside the car.
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I discovered that the hangars went under the seat rails, so rather than let it be, I decided to cut some additional pieces to space up the outside rails an equal amount, and ensure the seats remain fully supported.
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This page was last updated Sun Aug 1 01:34:39 EDT 2004