Is it possible to use the stock yoke in a DIY hack-n-Tap? I mean, the splines are right the shaft diameter is right... Why cant I just hack the shaft amd trim the yoke to the right lengths?

 

The reason for a double cardan over a yoke is because of angles. Yes if you wanted to you could use a yoke but it's not recommended.

 

You could, but it would be a waste of time and effort to produce very mediocre results.

The purpose of the SYE is twofold, first it is to do as the name suggests and eliminate the slip yoke, and second it is to give you a yoke that you can bolt a double cardan shaft to. You can't bolt a double cardan joint to the stock yoke. That said, if you have the operating angles correct you can get away with a single cardan shaft for a fairly significant amount of lift, but, this is fairly pointless as you would have to get a driveshaft built to do this (single joint on each end and a slip in the middle) when there would be little guarantee that it would actually work. Also, being able to rotate the pinion up for use with a double cardan shaft is a useful thing, in it moves the pinion and driveshaft up, helping to protect both of them from damage, while at the same time reducing the operating angle on the double cardan joint itself. U-joints are inherently much happier when operating at minimal angle (although not at no angle, they need to work a little or they brinell the caps), and running them to an angle that causes yoke contact is something that will instantly kill them; thus by using the double cardan shaft the u-joint at the axle end is at a minimal angle which keeps it happy and gives you a lot of leeway from having yoke contact in the (extremely likely) event of axle wrap.

Something to keep in mind is that hack'n'crap kits are a pain in the *** to install, and offer no strength advantage regarding the output shaft itself. I really recommend spending the extra $100 or whatever it is and getting a real HD SYE.

 

I'm asking because there is limited selection for the 242. And was wondering if I could just modify it. And the CDN $ is so bad that the $250 hack n taps are way over priced.

 

Can see if any np242s with an SYE already installed are for sale near you. That's how I got mine with a Tom Woods SYE.

 

I'd recommend just installing a 231 instead. There's enough of them out there that you can find one with a SYE already. In fact I think I sold my original one with a HD SYE for $150. Which was a mistake since I wound up building another rig with a 231 and wound up buying another HD SYE at that point.

There is a yoke out there somewhere that was likely what Tom Woods used for the first generation of 242 SYEs. If you dig around the internet you might be able to find the P/N and get Pat's Driveline to get you one, or NorthWest Fab might be able to for that matter. It's some super obscure application but it did work.

 

If I'm not mistaken I think advance adapters now has a kit for the 242.

 

It's over $400 US. He doesn't want to spend that.