Hey i was wondering if anybody has ever painted their driveshaft? Im thinking about doing mine becuase its not looking to good. I think ill paint it black but would i need to do any special prep to do it?
Thanks

 

i sparked a debate on here a while back about painting things like that

here's what i learned

apparently, somehow, the driveshaft is balanced....somehow...and paint can throw off the balance of it, and etc, and it'll mess up

sounds far fetched, but thas the best of my knowledge

mine is rusty too....its just the metal, it's all gonna rust away unless u paint it from the first day u buy the truck

i just painted the frame, axles, t-bars and skid plates and fenderwells...it makes a big difference...plus...who really sees the driveshaft all that much?

 

i know ive just had a couple of people say that its rusty, and i can notice it. but i can understand the balance thing. post some pictures of that stuff you painted

 

aight, i'll try to remember tomorrow to take some pics for ya

the underside looks better than new with my paint

i put 3-4 coats of glossy black spray paint on...i didnt prep with anything...just degreased and washed everything to get the majority of the dirt./mud off...thas all

 

thats sweet, hey by the way, this is totally off topic, but what size are your tires?

 

haha

i'm still tippin on 31's....

 

lol, sweet

 

yah...i should've gotten 33's, but there werent any 33-10.50's in town, and now that gas is up, i'm glad i stuck with the smaller tires

but hell...it looks good to me...i got more room to flex if nothin else

 

Does your muffler hang down really far or is that about the normal height.

 

Tippn, i think those tires look sweet, thats why i asked
shadyluke, it does hang down, not lower that anything else, but it had to go in up and down rather than side to side, know what i mean?

 

Unless you paint it with a perfectly even coat (won't happen in a million years) it will throw off the balance of your driveshaft. You may or may not feel it, but it will mean more wear on your u-joints and other drivetrain parts. Honestly, don't worry about it.

 

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with the whole "out of balance" thing due to paint.

Those of us with aluminum driveshafts, like me, don't have to worry about painting it...however if I had a steel one I wouldn't hesitate to paint it.
The rust buildup is far from being perfectly balanced accross your driveshaft, in addition mud and other "scale" builds up on the driveshaft, especially in winter. If anything, removing your driveshaft and cleaning it with wire wheel or abrasive disk and then primering and painting would IMPROVE the balance of your shaft. It would prevent it from rusting in the future and help to prevent that "scale" buildup of roadgrime and other junk...just looking at the picture you can clearly see differences of rust buildup as well as other "stuff" that has built up on the shaft...a few thousands of an inch of paint in one spot or another will hardly affect the shaft more than varying rust and mud/grime!!!

My $.02 on the matter.

 

I wouldnt worry bout it, when i baught my truck brand new last year, the driveshaft came from the dealer already completly rusted.

 

Hey I might be soon......very soon