drive shaft reinstall

[naa10104]

Hello,

Removed my drive shaft the other day and sent it out to be balanced and u joints checked. I failed to index the shaft at the rear diff. before removing. How much trouble am I in ? I have read some posts that advise no big deal since I am having it balanced. Others advise could be an issue. The rear of the car is up on ramps so that rear diff has not moved since removing the shaft. The ubolts and nuts are still in original position. Any advice would be appreciated ... thanks.

 

[Qcode351mach]

Hello,

Removed my drive shaft the other day and sent it out to be balanced and u joints checked. I failed to index the shaft at the rear diff. before removing. How much trouble am I in ? I have read some posts that advise no big deal since I am having it balanced. Others advise could be an issue. The rear of the car is up on ramps so that rear diff has not moved since removing the shaft. The ubolts and nuts are still in original position. Any advice would be appreciated ... thanks.

Not a big deal since the driveshaft only can mount in 2 positions the way you took it out or 180 degrees from that SO mount it drive it if you feel any vibrations just rotate it 180 Drive it again and if its worse than put it back the way you had it to start. If its better than leave it.

 

[naa10104]

Hello,

Removed my drive shaft the other day and sent it out to be balanced and u joints checked. I failed to index the shaft at the rear diff. before removing. How much trouble am I in ? I have read some posts that advise no big deal since I am having it balanced. Others advise could be an issue. The rear of the car is up on ramps so that rear diff has not moved since removing the shaft. The ubolts and nuts are still in original position. Any advice would be appreciated ... thanks.

Not a big deal since the driveshaft only can mount in 2 positions the way you took it out or 180 degrees from that SO mount it drive it if you feel any vibrations just rotate it 180 Drive it again and if its worse than put it back the way you had it to start. If its better than leave it.

Thanks very much !

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

agreed, pulled mine Saturday and didn't mark it either. If properly balanced, it makes no difference and if it does it is a easy fix.

 

[naa10104]

agreed, pulled mine Saturday and didn't mark it either. If properly balanced, it makes no difference and if it does it is a easy fix.

Thanks !

 

[Don C]

I believe the talk about indexing driveshafts originated with the type of driveshaft that has flanges or u-joints on both ends and the slip joint/yoke in the driveshaft and not in the transmission. You see this a lot on 4 wheel drive vehicles that have a transfer case and long vehicles that have a carrier bearing located between the transmission and rear end. The u-joints have to be in the same plane and the splines in the slip joint have to be aligned correctly. Because our driveshafts have the u-joint weld yokes welded to the driveshaft the u-joints will always be in the correct plane (assuming the driveshaft was built correctly).

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Well done on the explanation!

 

[naa10104]

Well done on the explanation!

Hello,

Here is the latest ... got the drive shaft back today and reinstalled it. FYI, the rear u-joint was replaced 500-600 miles ago. The front U-joint was found to be okay except that the grease fitting was broken so they replaced it and lubed both front and rear. It was out of balance, so they rebalanced it. Originally it had one small weight near the rear u-joint it now has the original one, another at the rear and another at the front.

I reinstalled and torqued the 4 nuts that hold it in place. Took it on the road for a test ... feels better but not as good as I would like it. Will take it for a more extensive drive tomorrow. Some have commented that since I did not index it before I removed it I have a 50/50 chance of putting it back the way it came out. One person suggested to try it and if it doesn't feel right remove it and reinstall 180 degress opposite to see if that helps. Others have said that as long as the drive shaft is balanced it does not matter which way I installed it.

Looking for some advice on this. Should I remove and reinstall or am I waisting my time ? Thanks

 

[trillizo_y_uno]

Well done on the explanation!

Hello,

Here is the latest ... got the drive shaft back today and reinstalled it. FYI, the rear u-joint was replaced 500-600 miles ago. The front U-joint was found to be okay except that the grease fitting was broken so they replaced it and lubed both front and rear. It was out of balance, so they rebalanced it. Originally it had one small weight near the rear u-joint it now has the original one, another at the rear and another at the front.

I reinstalled and torqued the 4 nuts that hold it in place. Took it on the road for a test ... feels better but not as good as I would like it. Will take it for a more extensive drive tomorrow. Some have commented that since I did not index it before I removed it I have a 50/50 chance of putting it back the way it came out. One person suggested to try it and if it doesn't feel right remove it and reinstall 180 degress opposite to see if that helps. Others have said that as long as the drive shaft is balanced it does not matter which way I installed it.

Looking for some advice on this. Should I remove and reinstall or am I waisting my time ? Thanks

Honestly, it shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to jack up the car or drive it up on ramps, remove the driveshaft, rotate it 180, reinstall. We are talking about a real easy job here. It shouldn't cost you much in time and effort to get your answer.

 

[naa10104]

Well done on the explanation!

Hello,

Here is the latest ... got the drive shaft back today and reinstalled it. FYI, the rear u-joint was replaced 500-600 miles ago. The front U-joint was found to be okay except that the grease fitting was broken so they replaced it and lubed both front and rear. It was out of balance, so they rebalanced it. Originally it had one small weight near the rear u-joint it now has the original one, another at the rear and another at the front.

I reinstalled and torqued the 4 nuts that hold it in place. Took it on the road for a test ... feels better but not as good as I would like it. Will take it for a more extensive drive tomorrow. Some have commented that since I did not index it before I removed it I have a 50/50 chance of putting it back the way it came out. One person suggested to try it and if it doesn't feel right remove it and reinstall 180 degress opposite to see if that helps. Others have said that as long as the drive shaft is balanced it does not matter which way I installed it.

Looking for some advice on this. Should I remove and reinstall or am I waisting my time ? Thanks

Honestly, it shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to jack up the car or drive it up on ramps, remove the driveshaft, rotate it 180, reinstall. We are talking about a real easy job here. It shouldn't cost you much in time and effort to get your answer.

Hi,

Yep, I get it ... getting a little frustrated with this issue. Don't want to cause myself any extra work. I will let you guys know what I do ... thanks again.

 

[Don C]

If your drive shaft was properly balanced it shouldn't make any difference which way you connect the u-joints. It would be just like installing a new drive shaft that had never been on the vehicle.

If you are sure the vibration is coming from the drivetrain I would start by checking the runout of the u-joint flange on the differential, the condition of the differential bearings, play in the transmission output shaft bearings or bushing, runout of the rear axle flanges, and balance, runout and roundness of the rear wheels and tires. Other things that can be out of balance are the flywheel/flexplate and the harmonic balancer, as well as the engine. These last three will vary with engine speed, not just road speed.