Front drive shaft replacement - getting shaft back in!!

[Vman]

Ok done lots of searching but not much on how to get the shafts back in. I cannot for the life of me get the passenger side to click due to the cer-clip. Splines seem to line up and lock in.

Have tried tapping from the hub end but dont want to damage the new shaft.

Help please!!!

[LordMayhem]

shove it in just like you had to yank to get it out mate. line it up hold it straight and give it a few good hard shoves and it will pop in

[ARGS]

correct size seal? If the seal is even slightly the wrong size smaller it can be a pita to fit

[my.paj]

I did notice on one I done for a mate there is 2 different seal sizes or bearing size, when I fitted the one he got it was very loose in the diff, so check you got the right size.
Rick

[captain_paj]

Ok done lots of searching but not much on how to get the shafts back in. I cannot for the life of me get the passenger side to click due to the cer-clip. Splines seem to line up and lock in.

Have tried tapping from the hub end but dont want to damage the new shaft.

Help please!!!

ROFL

I laugh because exactly that problem stuffed me literally for hours.

Firstly, if there's a shim - you can probably leave it out with new drive shafts.

Secondly - I COULD NOT get the clip on, while the driveshaft was bolted to the diff. Couldn't be done, no matter how hard I tried.

Unbolt the driveshaft from the diff. Push it through the hub, and you should get the clip on. You have to hold the driveshaft up and angle the hub down if you have it hanging by the bottom ball joint. Get a helper.

It sucks but its the only way that worked for me. Or you could do what a certain person I know did and push the clip on the best he could and go for a drive, hoping it will spring into place. Which I wouldn't do.

Oh - and there's a ring that goes over the hub end of the driveshaft that seats the outer CV to the hub. It's asymmetrical. It goes one way. Muggins me didn't note which way around so I used trial and error. From memory the tapered side goes to the hub but don't quote me.

It sucks but this worked for me.

[Vman]

Finally got it in. It was very tight but finally popped. Ended up having to get the wide 8.5 month pregnant to hold the shaft in place while I held a peice of timber and hammered the end of the shaft - this popped it over.

A few mechanic mates noted they can be quite tight. The proper method if it doesn't pop is to use a brass hammer (or plastic hammer as per MM instructions), however the timber and normal hammer does the same - you just need three hands.

Other advice is to get the top ball joint in first then jack up the lower arm to get the bottom ball joint in. Much easier which I can imagine. Will let you all know how it goes.

[ARGS]

glad you got it sorted

Doing my uni's today, hopefully drama free too!

[captain_paj]

Other advice is to get the top ball joint in first then jack up the lower arm to get the bottom ball joint in. Much easier which I can imagine. Will let you all know how it goes.

Dropping the torsion bar makes it very easy. It's not hard to do and not having to fight the damn thing is awesome.

[captain_paj]

Finally got it in. It was very tight but finally popped. Ended up having to get the wide 8.5 month pregnant to hold the shaft in place while I held a peice of timber and hammered the end of the shaft - this popped it over.

A few mechanic mates noted they can be quite tight. The proper method if it doesn't pop is to use a brass hammer (or plastic hammer as per MM instructions), however the timber and normal hammer does the same - you just need three hands.

Oh - sounds like you didn't have it bolted up to the diff. Yes wood and a hammer is a wonderful thing.

Glad you got it sorted dude!

[ARGS]

righto, s/w autobahn as well and they're saying that there's 2x variants to them as there was a revision???? Ones $29 and the other "less common" on is $58

[captain_paj]

righto, s/w autobahn as well and they're saying that there's 2x variants to them as there was a revision???? Ones $29 and the other "less common" on is $58

Oh FFS really? So how do you know which ones you need?

[Vman]

I'm going to try and do it without dropping the torsion bar if I can. Sort out camping gear while waiting for the wife to finish work and ball joint to come in. Having an 18 month old trying to help out just isnt working.

If I get really stuck I will drop torsion bar. But really need to be on the road this afternoon.

Ha - on a side note its going to be tricky to pack as this is the first camping trip with the three of us. I had a great system before him when we had the full flat floor in the back. Forgot how long some of our stuff is! lol A split fold seat would be very handy about now.

Thanks for the help guys - however not out of the woods just yet...

[Vman]

righto, s/w autobahn as well and they're saying that there's 2x variants to them as there was a revision???? Ones $29 and the other "less common" on is $58

Args - are you referring to uni joints? Man thats a pain in the ass. You would think they would keep things pretty much the same and consistent - especially being Japanese. Thats one thing I like about working on Toyota's so much stuff is the same across the range and interchanges.