"Here is your best bet. LarrBeard has a similar dilemma with his truck. He has the Detroit style driveshaft but the problem is the same. Parts just aren't available anymore.
There is a shop in Fort Wayne Indiana that can fix you right up with a "Spicer Style" driveshaft conversion. https://fortwayneclutch.com/ "
Well, my ears were burning, so I'll drop into the conversation.
My 2WD '48 truck uses the Detroit style U-Joints, Since it is a 2WD, there isn't a transfer case and the drive shaft is a longer two piece shaft, supported in the middle with a jackshaft bearing. Chrysler used that style joint in a lot of their cars, so we were able to find replacements through one of the old Mopar specialty shops when we rebuilt the truck.
BUT, knowing what I know now, I would have made a Spicer style replacement. BMorgil actually did the measurements for a one-piece setup right in the exhibition hall at JeepFest, but I decided not to take it back apart to do that since the two-piece shaft was working OK. (You could have sold tickets to watch two old coots roll around under that truck, then try to stand up again…).
I have had driveline work done by Ft. Wayne Clutch - they figured out how to balance the shaft with that bearing assembly in the middle. I am in Ft. Wayne - and they do good work, as reasonable as anyone, and they do it fairly quickly since they are a large shop with good assets available to them.
Get a new Dana drive shaft, it will eliminate a lot of problems down the road. We have found over and over that Willys used whatever they could get their hands on to build vehicles. Every book may well say the original drive shaft and U-joints were Detroit, but there was a high probability that some ’56 wagons had Dana drivelines just because they were available or someone found a pile of them in a stockroom somewhere.
You’re into the Rules of Jeep here:
Rule 1. What you see is what you have.
Rule 2. Trust nothing you read, or what you are told until you verify it with your own eyes (see Rule 1).
Rule 3. Never say “Willys-Overland would never have ______________________”. (Fill in the blank). If they could have, they probably did.
Post us some pictures of the project - we like pictures! And, good luck.
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