1997 Mounty driveshaft MISSING

[kjsouthwick]

I recently bought a used 1997 Merc Mounty 4wd. The previous owner had no clue what the heck he was dealing with so it was up to me to figure everything out.

Anyway, When I got to looking in to why the 4wd wasn't engaging I found out that the entire rear drive shaft was nowhere to be found. It didn't just fall off. It hasn't been there for a while.

My question is this: if I buy a new driveshaft, how do I go about making sure its lined up correctly and/or balanced? This is something I have the capability of doing, but knowledge and experience is lacking. I appreciate whatever help I can get. Thank you in advance

 

[chefduane]

The REAR driveshaft was missing, or the FRONT driveshaft was missing? Sometimes on a 4x4 the PO will remove the front driveshaft if there is a problem with the transfer case.
Was the vehicle actually driveable when you bought it or did it have to be towed?

That aside, if you buy a new balanced driveshaft and install it (not that difficult) the assumption would be that it would be driveable, all >other< problems not withstanding. But you may still just have a piece of junk with a new driveshaft it in.

 

[VR4]

I've seen a ton of people not mark the driveshaft on removal and have no problems. Just visit the local pick n pull and get one from the same engine/trans/body as yours. Make sure they didn't hit it with the forklift though. I needed to look at 6 different 2wds to find a good aluminum explorer shaft for my s10