Driveshaft won't come apart?

burly

burly

Senior Member
Hey fellas, attempting to remove rear end from the 39 and for some reason the driveshaft refuses to slide out of the universal joint? I think the rear pin has either dropped out or sheared. Any suggestions appreciated!
 
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If you can pull the torque tube rearward you can fix a C-clamp on the outside of the drive shaft and use it as a handle to pull the shaft rearward until it is clear of the U-joint.
 
Hopefully, if the pin sheared and the driveshaft moved forward, the end of the shaft hasn't been peened a little and a couple of splines are messed up at the end, not allowing it to slide out of the U joint. Have you pried back against the flaired out end of the torque tube with a couple of large screwdrivers or small pry bars? You may have to pull the whole rear back leaving the driveshaft stuck to the joint to get it out.
 
burly:
I posted some info. in the Torque Tube Leak thread posted by Ricosan that may help. Scroll down to post #15.
 
Thanks fellas, I'm afraid the spline may have been damaged as mentioned in the previous post? The rear end has moved back around 3.5" but the diveshaft is still stuck inside the u-joint
 
burly:

Please keep us updated on what you find about the spline and how you solved the problem. I wonder how the spline got damaged?
 
If you have good access you might be able to get a lever inside the joint and push the shaft out of the joint.

I was going to say take the axle out and leave the shaft in, but the axle will only come off until the connector contacts the middle bearing..

Once the shaft is exposed you might be able to clamp something to it and use a hammer to knock it out.

Without being there it is hard to offer advice.

I do know the end of the shaft has quite a large section that sticks forward of the splines. I can't imagine that getting gnarled up to such a degree that it would prevent removal.

Good luck with it.

Mart.
 
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Is everything disconnected from the torque tube? When I took mine out last winter, I almost forgot to remove the little short brake line attached to the frame clip. Just a thought.
 
Burly, Can you post some photos of what you are dealing with, including close ups of the drive shaft splines?
 
Maybe take the bolt out that holds the ujoint on and take the joint out with the driveshaft. Might have to modify a wrench to get in there from the top.
 
Thats a filthy greasy thing there at the U joint, hard to imagine its held up by rust, so it would have to be a mechanical sort of resistance. Someone previously mentioned the end being peened from rubbing on the U joint bolt...can't be as the ends of every drive shaft I have seen have a substantial taper to them,on the end, like a 1/8" at least. Do you have the speedo turtle off ? maybe have a look in there. This is a puzzler !
 
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Burly, you have provided next to no information on this post.
It can be a problem withdrawing the axle/torque tube on these models due to clearance around the floor area.
Can you check all around to see what exactly is going on?
Lots of photos would really help.
Mart.
 
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