QU40973 1999.5-2002 Ram 2500, 3500 with NV5600 Front CV Driveshaft

QU40973 Silver 1330 Series Front CV Driveshaft for 1999.5-2002 Ram 2500 4x4s with Cummins Diesel Engine and NV5600 6 Speed Manual Transmission is a complete, affordable, Level 1, 100% Brand New replacement Front CV Driveshaft for your Ram 4x4 that features USA Made DOM tubing, long travel greaseable slip joint, greaseable 1330 Series u-joints, and Non-Greaseable CV Ball for 1999.5-2002 Dodge Ram 2500, Ram 3500 4x4 trucks with Cummins Diesel Engines and New Venture NV5600 6 Speed Manual Transmissions. QU40973 has a Greaseable, Long-Travel (4") 1-3/8" x 16 Spline Slip Joint making it perfect for both stock and moderately lifted trucks of stock to moderate horsepower classes. The Long Travel Slip Joint can collapse and extend beyond what your stock shaft could allowing for extreme axle articulation without the shaft bottoming out or pulling apart. For greater strength, we use USA made Drawn Over Mandrel (DOM)  Driveshaft Tubing that is both stronger and more concentric than conventional welded tubing. QU40973 has a natural finish and is ready to install right out of the box or you can paint it with your favorite finish before installation. Shaft is phased, welded, straightened, balanced and ready to install. Shipped unpainted. Precision Assembled and finished in USA with both USA and imported parts.

Need More Info? Use the handy Links below to access over 40 years of Dan's product and vehicle specific Tech Notes to easily get the information you need for your vehicle's repair, maintenance, or upgrade project!

Dan the Gear Man® Tech Notes:
U-Joint Specs
Driveshaft Installation
Check Fit
Lubrication 
Slip Joint Travel 
U-Joint Angles 
Pinion Yoke 
Driveshaft Phasing 
Driveshaft Straightening 
Driveshaft Balance 
Matching Parts
Applications

Tech Note 1: U-Joint Specs
All Three Universal Joints are made to Spicer 1330 series external snap ring dimensional specifications. The u-joint cup diameter is 1-1/16". The overall installed width is 3-5/8". Replacement U-Joint is QU40774. QU40973 uses u-Joints with Hot-Forged crosses. Most U-Joint crosses are forged by one of two methods, either hot-forged or cold-forged. Cold-forged crosses are harder and more resistant to wear, but the process is costly compared to hot-forging. Most u-joints with Hot-Forged crosses are greaseable and most u-joints with cold-forged crosses are not. QU40973 uses greaseable u-joints that have a simple, single-lip seal that allows excess grease to be purged.

Tech Note 2: Driveshaft Installation
New Hardware is recommended! (See QU10806 and QU40735) When installing your new Driveshaft, make sure the mating surfaces are clean. Apply 242 Medium Strength Threadlocker to the fasteners or use new hardware with factory applied threadlocker. Apply a thin film of anti-seize compound to the female pilot hole in the driveshaft CV flange (DO NOT apply to the bolts or bolt holes!) Install the driveshaft. Torque the Rear Bolts to 65 lb.-ft. (88 Nm). Torque the front bolts to 14 lb.-ft. (19 Nm).

Tech Note 3: Check Fit
Our Silver Series Driveshafts have Long Travel Slip Joints so typically the Tube length will be around 1/2" shorter than a factory driveshaft. However, the overall extended length of the driveshaft is 1" or more beyond the stock shaft. After installing your driveshaft, lower the vehicle so the full weight is on the suspension. Verify there is at least 1-1/4" of clearance between the slip yoke seal and slip stub face. If your driveshaft appears to be either too short or too long, CALL US before driving the vehicle! 

Tech Note 4: Lubrication
QU40973 has four lubrication points that can be greased with a standard grease gun. For easier greasing, all three u-joint zerks are installed in-line making it easier to locate them during servicing. Grease all lube fittings before operating the vehicle with your new driveshaft. We recommend you Lubricate the universal joint periodically with QU90018 Pyroplex® Plus Synthetic Grease or other quality, water resistant NLGI #2 GC-LB grease. Each of the 3 Universal Joints has a standard grease zerk fitting in the cross. The Slip Yoke can be lubricated through a grease fitting located on the Slip Yoke Seal. By placing the lube point in the seal, excess grease will flow down the splines before it can exit out the vent on the yoke end. The CV Ball is not relubricatable. Service intervals for the greaseable universal joints and slip joint will vary with your driving conditions and type of grease you use, but as a minimum, you should grease your u-joints at every oil change or every three months whichever comes sooner. Lube more frequently in extremely wet conditions or after submersion under water. Remember, a greaseable joint that is not regularly lubed will prematurely fail from water contamination or grease loss. So, if you and your grease gun don't get together very often, we recommend you select one of our Platinum series Driveshafts with Sealed U-Joints.

Tech Note 5: Slip Joint Travel
The Slip Joint on a driveshaft expands and contracts as the axle articulates up and down. With the 1994-2001 Ram 1500 4x4 or 1994-2002 Ram 2500, Ram 3500 4x4, the vertical movement of the axle is in an arc due to the 4-link suspension arms. When the suspension is compressed, the axle is moved forward as the suspension arms become more horizontal. When the Suspension is extended the axle is moved rearward as the suspension arm angles increase. For the front driveshaft on a stock or near stock suspension truck driven mainly on smooth surfaces, the net result is movement of the slip joint is fairly small, as the axle moves up and forward, the driveshaft angle decreases. When the axle moves down, the driveshaft angle increases as the axle moves back. The two movements largely cancel each other out. The dynamics of Slip Joint movement change on rough terrain especially with lifted trucks which typically have a greater range of axle articulation. Our Silver Series Driveshafts have Long-Travel Slip Joints that can compress to a little less less than stock and can safely extend at least 1" beyond stock lengths.

Tech Note 6: U-Joint Angles
On Ram 4x4 trucks with solid beam front axles, the driveshaft angle at the transfer case is greater than the angle between the driveshaft and front axle. The reason is simple, the engine, transmission and transfer case are angled down front to back several degrees. The front axle pinion is angled up. The difference can be as much as 10 degrees which is why a Double-Cardan front CV driveshaft is used. With stock suspension trucks, the CV Joint operating angle usually does not exceed about 15-16 degrees, however, with lifted trucks, the operating angle can exceed the design limits of the CV Joint. Also keep in mind the greater the angle, the less energy efficient the driveshaft is in transmitting power. As the angle increases an ever greater amount of power is used just to force the driveshaft through its rotation.
Maximum CV Joint Operating Angles for Ram Front CV Driveshafts:
1330 Series 18° 
1350 Series 32°
1410 Series 22°
1410 Series High-Angle 30°

Tech Note 7: Pinion Yoke
Your Matching pinion yoke must have cast tabs on the ends of the pinion yoke saddles to retain 1-1/16" diameter cups. Dodge switched to a Spicer 1330 Front Universal Joint with 1-1/16" cap diameter in the later part of 1999. Early production 1999 Shafts used a 1330 (Driveshaft Yoke) x 7290 (Pinion Yoke) Series Conversion U-joint. The 7290 series u-joint can be identified by its 1-1/8" Cup Diameter and the inside C-Clips that seat against the inside of pinion yoke ears. If you have a 1999 truck that has a 7290 series front pinion yoke, see QU40970 D1330 x 7290 Front Driveshaft.

Tech Note 8: Driveshaft Phasing
Driveshafts need to be set in Phase during assembly. This means the yokes are ideally perfectly inline with each other. Our Driveshafts are made to adhere to the industry standard of +/- 2° Phase Difference or less.

Tech Note 9: Driveshaft Straightening
During assembly, the driveshaft parts are assembled to have the least possible runout. When a driveshaft is welded, the uneven heating and cooling of the shaft will usually cause the tube to warp slightly. We correct this by spot heating and cooling the shaft near the weld. On shafts that are not painted, you will often see a couple of round spots were the tubing is discolored by heat during the straightening process. The straighter the shaft, the less balance weights need to be used.

Tech Note 10: Driveshaft Balance
Our Driveshafts are dynamically balanced on specialized driveshaft balancing equipment before shipment.

Tech Note 11: Matching Parts
Matching Parts for QU40973 Front CV Drive Shaft:
QU40735 Strap and Bolt Kit, Driveshaft to Front Pinion Yoke
QU10806 Bolt, Grade 8 CV Driveshaft to Transfer Case Front Output Yoke 
QU40509 Front Pinion Yoke
QU10885 Transfer Case Front Output Flange
QU40806 Unfinished Gold Series 1350CV x 1330 Series All Greaseable Front CV Shaft
QU90018 Pyroplex Plus Premium Synthetic Grease
QU90021 Spicer Life Ultra Premium Synthetic Grease 
TM3000 Driveshaft Service Manual
TM3317 Front CV Driveshaft Manual for 1999-2002 Dodge Ram 2500, Ram 3500
S9978 Medium Strength Threadlocker

Applications:

Dodge and Ram:
Ram 2500, Ram 3500 with Cummins Diesel and New Venture NV5600 6 Speed Manual Transmission: 1999.5, 2000, 2001, 2002