Driveshaft and Half Shaft Install

[Rob79er]

I didn't mark which end goes to tranny and which end goes to diff. Does it matter?
I also don't know which halfshaft is the left one and the right one..How about these?

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

The half shafts have no left or right, or inside/outside. On some year of cars the paint stripes on the drive shaft should go to the rear (IIRC)

 

[craig32]

I didn't mark which end goes to tranny and which end goes to diff. Does it matter?
I also don't know which halfshaft is the left one and the right one..How about these?

Did you press them all apart to replace the universals? Otherwise the yoke would go in the transmission. Is the driveshaft the same diameter the full length? If not, the necked down end probably goes to the rear - all the other driveshafts I have are like that. Good luck!

Craig

 

[JohnZ]

Doesn't matter which way the driveshaft or half-shafts go in - they're constant diameter, and the U-joints are the same at both ends.

 

[joe1975]

I've asked plenty of Guru's this question while trying to nail down a vibration no one has ever gave me a for sure answer they appear to be the same on each end

 

[DRTH VTR]

Doesn't matter which way the driveshaft or half-shafts go in - they're constant diameter, and the U-joints are the same at both ends.

It looks like the guru has spoken.

 

[Bill75]

Question:

Isn't it NOT such a good idea to take a shaft that has been installed for some time and reinstall it spinning in the opposite direction? Even though it fits either way technically, now the needle bearings in the universals will be rotating in a different direction.

 

[joe1975]

Hey Bill you ever get rid of your vibration, I'm still on the case

 

[Bill75]

Hi Joe,

Not sure. The car is still on jackstands waiting for the snow to melt up here and it's supposed to go to 5 deg this week !!

I haven't forgotten. I noticed the driveshaft is really shifted to the passenger side allot and is not any where near centered in the tunnel when I was re-installing the driveshaft last week. Maybe that's normal.

Stay warm down there....I'll post something to you when I can take it for a drive with this new transmission.

EDIT: Just heard the weather forcast------8 below tomorrow!! Holy crap!

Bill

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Hi Joe,

Not sure. The car is still on jackstands waiting for the snow to melt up here and it's supposed to go to 5 deg this week !!

I haven't forgotten. I noticed the driveshaft is really shifted to the passenger side allot and is not any where near centered in the tunnel when I was re-installing the driveshaft last week. Maybe that's normal.

Stay warm down there....I'll post something to you when I can take it for a drive with this new transmission.

EDIT: Just heard the weather forcast------8 below tomorrow!! Holy crap!

Bill

Check your tranny mounts for breakage, that's not normal. The tailshaft should be centered in the tunnel on the crossmember.

 

[joe1975]

Mine is the same way doesn't look centered But I changed my u's and one half shaft. vibes were gone for a while but now there back the only thing I did was a drop the clutch hard well real hard my thoughts are drivetrain alignment I'm thinking when I jacked the wheels to attach the shafts I pushed the train around a bit. got it on the ramps right now and I'm kinda pushin the main shaft around with a bar. Maybe one day I'll work it out

 

[Bill75]

Check your tranny mounts for breakage, that's not normal. The tailshaft should be centered in the tunnel on the crossmember.

It does sound unusual doesn't it. Mounts are new and they line up with the bolt holes in the crossmember tranny mount perfectly. It doesn't look crooked in the tunnel, the driveshaft seems shifted to the left all the way down. Motor mounts are new also. I loosened the tranny mounts and put a prybar on the tailshaft to see it it would move, but nothing.

Mine is the same way doesn't look centered But I changed my u's and one half shaft. vibes were gone for a while but now there back the only thing I did was a drop the clutch hard well real hard my thoughts are drivetrain alignment I'm thinking when I jacked the wheels to attach the shafts I pushed the train around a bit. got it on the ramps right now and I'm kinda pushin the main shaft around with a bar. Maybe one day I'll work it out

I tried to move mine Joe, it wouldn't budge.

 

[joe1975]

Bill mine looks as you said favoring the left hand side the whole tunnel

 

[Bill75]

Bill mine looks as you said favoring the left hand side the whole tunnel

Thanks Joe, at least I'm not alone out here with that. It sure doesn't look proper does it. There's been allot of talk on another board about offset driveshafts and some arguments on weather or not they should be straight. As wishuwerehere82 said his is in the middle, might be a design change in the year but ours has a vibration and others don't. Something fishey here for sure.
I thought I'd give this setup a test with the new transmission and new driveshaft and see what happens before I start moving things around. If it still vibrates like before I go to the next step. Pray for warm weather!

Later,

Bill