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Breaking a driveshaft is not a fun thing when you are out in the woods, It usually means removing it and then limping out of the woods with 2 wheel drive. This has probably happened to all of you who are reading this. Well it happened to me in the Fall of 2001. I was not surprised, I was running a 400+hp Chevy 350, a Ford T-18 tranny, a Atlas II Transfer case, Dynatrac Dana 60 rear axle, and 38.5 inch tall Swampers. I was running a standard 1310 series CV and a 1310 series u-jointed rear driveshaft. Breaking the shaft meant that I could now upgrade my weak shaft to a bulletproof setup that would no longer ever be a thought in my mind. I contacted High Angle Driveline in Paradise, CA.

The person who I talked to was the owner Jesse Jaynes. Jesse is a really honest guy that provides you with all options you should know about. I told him the setup that I was running and what happened to my old shaft. Jesse recommended upgrading the u-joints to increase strength. We decided on a 1410 series u-joint at the axle end and his 1350 CV at the T-case end. The 1350 CV is not a new fad in the industry, it is the OE size on many one ton pickup trucks you see driving around. But the new thing is getting a 1350 CV to work in a shorter, high angle application, like a CJ, YJ, or TJ. Normally a 1350 CV will allow about 20 degrees of operating angle. Many people remove the seals from the center pivot point to increase operating angle. Now this is a big mistake because the shaft will lose all of it lubrication and it will eventually seize or just wear out prematurely.

High Angle Driveline has come up with a 1350 CV that will flex up to 32 degrees without binding; this is even greater than the standard flex of a 1310 CV. The High Angle 1350 CV retains all the grease seals and will also include a grease fitting on the CV for extra life. High Angle will build you their 32 degree CV at no extra cost over the standard 1350 CV, most other driveline makers will charge a extra $50 to make a normal 1350 flex at that angle. So why is the extra flex important you may ask, well if you have a short wheelbase 4x4 that is lifted you will need a short driveline that has the ability to operate at higher angles than the stock shaft has to. High Angle driveshafts allow for the increased angle and extremely increased strength over the competition. I ordered a 1350 CV with a greaseable center and a 1410 series U-joint on the axle end.

If you have a 4x4 with non stock axles you know all the issues with getting all the parts working correctly with your current setup. I had a reverse cut Dana 60 built for my rear axle and I had explorer style disc brakes installed. I never was able to find the correct e-brake lines that would fit my CJ-7 setup and the explorer style e-brake lever. In talking to Jesse, I found out that he developed a driveshaft mounted e-brake that would allow me to have e-brakes. The heart of the system is his patent pending output flange for the Atlas II transfer case. This flange allows the rotor to be installed between the t-case and the driveshaft. This flange also allows a 1350 CV driveshaft to be installed. High Angle has many of these output flanges available for many applications. The e-brake is a disc style brake with a lever operated caliper and a custom laser cut rotor.

Here is a picture of the new High Angle Driveline compared with a 1310 series driveshaft.

1. Remove old shaft, I already did this because of breaking it.
2. Remove old yoke off of transfer case (keep old o-ring washer).
3. Remove old yoke off of axle(if you are getting a different size yoke)
4. Place e-brake rotor onto new output flange

5. Place new output flange and disc onto output shaft on transfer case, reinstall rubber O-ring washer, then tighten down to 130-155 ft/lbs depending on which Atlas II you have.
6. I then removed the retaining nut and ran a bead of RTV silicon around the inside of the output flange to create a seal between the flange and the output shaft on the t-case to prevent fluid leaks. Then re-torque output shaft nut to torque.
7. I then installed the High Angle e-brake brackets onto t-case. On an Atlas II make sure you do not over-tighten the screws that go into the case. You should also put a small amount of RTV on the threads of the bolts so that the fluid in the case does not leak out.
8. I then installed the yoke on the rear axle. Now, since my axle has a crush sleeve I needed to be very careful about the amount of preload I put on the pinion when I reinstall the yoke. Before you remove the old yoke jack up the rear of the truck and install jack stands, then remove the wheels and rotate the yoke and feel for the preload. You want to get your new yoke as close as possible to this preload. On my Dana 60 I need a 1 5/16th socket to remove the pinion nut, then I used a brass hammer and gentle knocked off the old yoke, I installed the new yoke on the pinion shaft and tightened the pinion nut down till it was completely seated and the preload on the pinion was about the same as before. If you do not tighten it down enough you could cause premature wear on you ring and pinion and if you tighten it to much you will cause binding. If you do not know what you are doing have a professional do this part of the install, or take your truck to a professional as soon as possible after the install to have it checked out.
9. I then installed the rear driveshaft with the supplied hardware. Gave it a quick turn and everything seemed perfect.

10. I then moved on to installing the caliper on the e-brake bracket. This is a very important part of the install. You need to tighten the 2 bolts down enough so that there is not any slop in the caliper (too loose) or too tight which would lead to binding on the rotor. Make sure the 2 bolts are about equal in tightness so that the clamping force is equal on both sides. You can check for caliper to rotor issues by just spinning the driveshaft and hearing for noises, take your time and get this correct the first time.
11. Now, you need to deal with the e-brake cable attachment. Since I was the first person to install one of these on a CJ-7 with a Atlas II there were not many options for me. I spent a couple of days figuring out how I was going to do this. I finally decided to use the stock intermediate e-brake cable and right angle it off the frame to the caliper. The problem was the right angle I need to achieve; I did not want to bind the cable by attaching it to tight. I was cruising through a hardware store one day and I found what I needed. It is a 2.5 inch pulley that attaches with 4 bolts. I found the spot it need to be installed and drilled the holes through the frame and attached the pulley. Then I ran the cable through the pulley and then back to the caliper. The pulley I bought is rated at 750 pound of force so I think that will be fine.

The entire installation should take about 2 hours if you have all the materials needed. It is not a complete bolt on project you need to pay attention to the caliper alignment, if you do not align everything right you will wear the e-brake disc and caliper prematurely. If you want an indestructible driveshaft, the place to go is High Angle Driveline.