Driveshaft install - won't slide forward!

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BuckeyeAlex

BuckeyeAlex

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Hey guys, I'm at the end of a few week project and have an issue. When removing the driveshaft, it slipped forward fine so that I could drop it from the rearend. Although it was in the trans very tight, a few taps with a hammer brought it out. Fast forward to tonight, the driveshaft now slips in to the 727 fine and goes up to the point where it sits when finally installed (can tell by the surface rust line at the front and where the caps meet the u-joint in the rear. My problem is I absolutely can not get it to slide forward to allow me to set it in the u-joint!

The trans is in neutral, I've tried rotating it while pushing forward. I smoothed out the surface rust at the front and lubed it. I've given it every ounce of *** I've got, and it won't budge forward. The car is up on jack stands, and I've tried with the rear end fully dropped and fully jacked up. What am I missing here?
 
Does it move forward and spring back, or just not move more forward at all?
 
Not move forward at all. It slides in up to the point where it's final location should be once bolted in, and just stops completely.
 
BuckeyeAlex said:
Not move forward at all. It slides in up to the point where it's final location should be once bolted in, and just stops completely.
Click to expand...

Some of them had an O ring around the output shaft to seal the yoke from fluid, but those are usually either broken or hardened and don't stop it from going in.
Also I think it would already be passed it by the time the ujoint caps are inline with the yoke saddles (even though not actually on it)

Put a 2x4 on it and smack it lightly, then a little more if needed and I'll bet it moves.
Obviously you tried taking it back out and rotating it to different places on shaft splines, right?

There isn't a golf ball inside the yoke is there? :D
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I ended up just calling it a night and I'll try again tomorrow evening, it's about 20 minutes away at my in-laws house.

Right now it's in the air front and rear on stands. I think my first matter of business tomorrow will be to let the front down on the ground and raise the rear as high as possible so I have a bit more room in the back. I'll pull the driveshaft out again, shine a light in the tail shaft just to make sure nothing is out of place, rub some more fluid on the driveshaft and give it a few whacks with the hammer if everything seems like it should work. It was still a good night though, after about 3 weeks, the car is back together and running with no leaks!
 
Make sure there isn't too much lube (grease?) in the splines. Remember, you cannot compress a liquid, and that may be what's stopping it from going in all the way.
 
Well, the good news is I got the driveshaft in right away after putting jackstands under the axle. Must've just been the angle. Bad news is, after letting it idle for about 20 minutes while setting the timing and all that, I found leaks and the damn thing is coming back out.
 
I hope this is a cruiser and not being raced, the shaft is too long if its bottoming out and you need to put the axle at ride height to get the shaft in. If you race the rear will come forward and make issues with the trans if that slip is bottoming out and you don't know it is
 
Good point. Once the rear end was loaded, I actually had to pull the driveshaft back about a half inch to an inch to get it bolted in. I guess it's just such a tight fit in the trans that I had it slipped forward and it held itself there.
 
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