Driveshaft driving me nuts

[sdawg]

93 Ranger XLT, 4.0 double cardan shaft. Dropped the two shafts yesterday in my daughters truck because her Ujoints were shot. Had a machine shop press the old out and the new in. Reinstalled the two shafts and now the gears are grinding and not engaging. What in the world have I done to this little truck and how do I fix it. I thought maybe it was the keyway spline but there doesnt seem to be a match to line that up on the output shaft. Ive never dropped a driveshaft in a Ford only in a Dodge.

 

[DR_APLET]

hows the clutch fluid? if you have never done u-joints then it has probably never had the clutch slave replaced. how does it feel? does the drive shafts vibrate? i dont think grinding gears have much to do with the drive shafts imo.

 

[sdawg]

We bought the truck a week ago and from the looks of spark plugs, u joints, and such I am sure he did not do much with fluids or the clutch. How would I check that correctly and what am I looking for....just so I know if its good or not?

 

[sdawg]

This is an automatic 2wd, is it going to have clutch fluid?

 

[gmanpaint]

No clutch fluids in an auto.

The drive shaft does not have splines to deal with(as far as removing and installing), it is a bolt on.

Are you sure its installed correctly? Was it rebuilt properly? If not, it may be binding up.

 

[sdawg]

There are splines on the inside of the end of the drive shaft as well as on the output shaft. These don't have to line up a certain way? First photo is the output shaft, second is the driveshaft showing the keyway spline. Nothing has been rebuilt, just had the U-joints replaced. http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/txangelo/IMG_20110702_201632.jpg http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/txangelo/IMG_20110702_201546.jpg

 

[gmanpaint]

Since I cant see the pics you linked to, I can only imagine you took the rear shaft apart at the slip joint. When having to remove to replace the u-joints, there is no need to separate the shaft.

Your 1st post say's you removed 2 shafts on your daughters ranger, so I assumed it was a 4x4, and the double cardan shaft is in the front. Both the shafts to me means 4x4, and front, & rear shafts.

Replacing the U-joints is part of rebuilding a drive shaft.

There is a bolt on flange to the rear diff, and a bolt on flange to the t-case on a 4wd. If there is a spline input to a 2wd trans, I am no use here, as I have not worked on a 2wd or even seen one. Sorry.

Keep bumping this thread, someone with a 2wd might be of more help.

 

[RangerX]

Is this Ranger a Supercab? Supercabs have a two piece rear shaft with a carrier bearing in between, because of the length.

If a driveshaft is separated at the splines, and not reconnected in the same orientation, it will (or at least could) be out of balance. There's usually some mark, like a line of paint, to show the proper alignment.

I can't see how removing and reinstalling the driveshaft would cause gear grinding etc, are you sure it wasn't doing that before?

I moved your thread to the Ranger section.

 

[sdawg]

Yes it is a Super cab with double cardon shaft. It was not doing this before at all. I drove the truck with her everyday before we had the U joints replaced and not ever one time did the gears grind. We are probably going to take it in to the tansmission shop this week.

 

[DR_APLET]

im trying to imagine what goes on the make gears grind in an auto, this could have nothing to do with the drive shafts except maybe when you pulled off the shafts it let the output bearing move with an already compromised tranny. what makes an auto grind never heard of it. i have heard of the tranny slipping when the bands get wore, or the pump is going out let us know what they find

 

[sdawg]

I appreciate all the help. I thought tonight that maybe I had messed up, or moved the shift linkage so I adjusted that with the same results. I got the girlfriend out to start the truck and go through the gears so I could watch the drive shaft. Everything moves as it should and when it goes back in to park it grinds and the noise is certainly coming from the trans. I will let everyone know what the tranny shop says this week. Thanks again guys, I really do appreciate it.