1958 was the first year for one piece driveshafts in Stude passenger cars. They purposely made all driveshafts 15 degrees out-of-plane to minimize propeller shaft 'disturbances'. From the 1959 model year on, they reduced this offset to 12 degrees, and used it only on cars with model 44 rear ends. The smaller rear ends (models 23 and 27) used driveshafts with the yokes on th ---------- In Service Bulletin #262, April 1952, a fix for driveline vibration on '51-'52 Commanders with automatic trans. was to raise the center support mounting 1/2 inch, and reassemble the two piece driveshaft 90 degrees out of phase. That became a running change in production, and as far as I can tell, all passenger cars, both standard and automatic, were assembled that way until the one piece driveshaft was introduced in 1958. Dwain G. =-====================== Driveshaft length on a '63 K with AD is 51 29/32" with a 44 and 52 19/32" with a model 27 under the back end. ======================= From '58, the nose of the rear axle points down slightly. At the same time, they went to a one piece drive shaft, rear springs that were shorter from the axle to the front mount, a flatter floor in the rear, and a one piece rear seat cushion - no center arm rest. I put a '61 engine and 4 speed in a '57 Hawk, doing the same conversion to a one piece drive shaft; first with the '57 rear, then with the '61. Late '50's Oldsmobile's used small diameter drive shafts, that helped with clearance problems. You would probably have to steal one at a car show, these days. It was easy to find one the right length at a junk yard, in the '60's. The 4 speed yoke was very long and gave a lot of range; so close was good enough. Hurst sold what they called a cross member stiffener for Stude coupes. If you were converting to a one piece shaft, you cut the bottom center out of the crossmember that mounted the middle U-joint, and replaced it with their dropped piece. It really only amounted to a safety hoop. If the cross member was stiffened, it wasn't fastened to the frame well enough to help much! It's simpler just to remove that cross member. Looking from the side, I remember little or no angle at the rear, with the '57 axle. There was some, as you show, with the '61 axle. It would straightened out under power, as the springs twisted. From the side I think it was pretty straight at the front. Looking down, I think the engine and trans were offset, and maybe angled in the chassis. It's a 3D car! This would have kept the U-joints busy,