Reinstalling front drive shaft... Help!

[Buggyman]

Hey folks,

I removed my front 4x4 shaft in my 1998 Ranger when I put a new motor in and I cannot get it back in for the life of me. When I took it out, all the ball bearings fell out and I have removed the cup they slide into and trying to reassemble it on the work bench so I am not working upside down in the cold. I have gotten everything back together and have managed to get the balls and the shaft back into the cup, but its very stiff. When I go to reinstall it, it needs to articulate about two inches down to allow me to bolt the shaft to the front diff. Anyone have a clue about how to reinstall this thing? Perhaps a simpler question, how much movement is this shaft supposed to have? Is it supposed to be stiff or is it supposed to articulate up and down when its installed?

Thanks for any help!

 

[gavin]

the CV driveshaft should have ~1" or so (might be a bit more than that) back/forth movement when bolted to the t-case.

and you should be able to freely rotate it around, move it up/down, side to side.

 

[ericautopart]

Yeah, the head should plunge freely and move side to side. If the bearings fell out of the head, chances are your time w/ that shaft is limited..even if you do get it to free up. May want to look into replacing it.

 

[Buggyman]

Thanks guys for the quick reply!

The reason I disassembled the shaft by taking the bearings out was simply from a lack of knowledge. The cup was stuck pretty tightly to the transfer case and I was unaware that it was supposed to pop off and be attatched to the drive shaft. So I resorted to carefully tapping the boot off and pulling the shaft out of the cup and putting the bearings into a plastic bag.

My question now is, could I replace just the bearing assembly or repair the shaft I have now or would it be in the best interest to simply replace the entire thing? If so, any recommended places to buy one?

Thanks again for the help...

Philip

 

[gavin]

Thanks guys for the quick reply!

The reason I disassembled the shaft by taking the bearings out was simply from a lack of knowledge. The cup was stuck pretty tightly to the transfer case and I was unaware that it was supposed to pop off and be attatched to the drive shaft. So I resorted to carefully tapping the boot off and pulling the shaft out of the cup and putting the bearings into a plastic bag.

My question now is, could I replace just the bearing assembly or repair the shaft I have now or would it be in the best interest to simply replace the entire thing? If so, any recommended places to buy one?

Thanks again for the help...

Philip

one or two of the shafts I had, had that removable cup. But the others, the cup could not be removed.... no clue why the difference

best interest to replace the shaft, especially if you cannot currently get it to move freely.

 

[itslpjunior]

i am having the same problem.. is there a trick to installing the bearings?!