Removing drive shaft - can you advise?

[94_explorer]

I'm removing my drive shaft. I assume the mechanic that I just had working on my clutch must have removed it, but the bolts are on there something fierce. I can't break them with my normal socket wrench. I also notice the flange rotating a little when I attempt to loosen the bolts. Should I use a breaker bar? How can I get at the bolt that's on the top of the flange? I don't want to damage anything.

Any tips or suggestions here?

 

[Blee1099]

You need a 12 point 12mm or 13mm socket to remove them. They sometimes take some force to remove.

 

[bmxking5]

I used a 12mm wrench up front (I think it's 1/2" on the rear). When I removed it, I just put it in 4x4 and used my legs to push it off....a lot easier than pushing with your arms. Came off quick that way.

 

[sn0border88]

an air gun will make it easier on you, and you wont have the problem with the flange rotating, you should be able to hold it. just dont use the air gun to put it back together, maybe thats what the tech did.

 

[white95explorer]

I used a 12pt 12mm socket with a 1/2in breaker bar on mine. Once i got them out i had to use a flat pry bar to then drop the driveshaft out. The driveshaft in mine was kinda stuck up in there pretty good and kicking and pulling didnt work. With the flat pry bar you just push on the drive shaft flange.

 

[94_explorer]

Great! Thanks for all your advice. I have a good pry bar, so I'll try that when I take it down. I'm going to get a breaker bar tomorrow and give it another try. I don't have an air gun yet, so that's not an option at this time. I'll report back after I give it another go tomorrow. This is my first time attempting to remove my tranny.

 

[94_explorer]

Well, I'm back. I got a nice long 1/2 ince breaker bar, but I couldn't get enough leverage with it to loosen these stubborn bolts! I think the breaker bar is too long - or I don't have enough room underneath to really use it correctly. I also sprayed them with liquid wrench, but that didn't seem to help. I don't want to use my torque wrench because I don't think that would be too good for it, no?

Question: Can I torch the bolts to loosen them up? I've never done that before - what's the trick to it? How long should I torch 'em and how hot should I let them get? Should I go at them from both sides?

I'm starting to wonder if the guy took them down or not. They seem frozen.
Please take a look at this picture:

These are the right ones, no? This is pretty much the only way to get the driveshaft down right? I'm getting frustrated because I can't even get past this first step!

Another question - are ALL the bolts on this truck metric?

 

['97 V8]

ford sucks sometimes, so you have a variety of metric and standard. Ive ran into both while lifting my mounty and other work ive done on it. Beats me as to why an american company would go metric. As for the bolts yes those are the correct ones. Thats the ones i took off when i did my driveshaft. As for getting to that harder section i just moved the truck enough to bring that bolt around so i can get leverage on it. ULTIMATLY, just try not to strip the bolts.

 

[BrooklynBay]

There are a few tricks that you could try. The first one is to try to tighten the bolts, and loosen them. Move the bar in both directions. At one point, one of them should loosen up. The next thing would be to put a pipe on the breaker bar, but I would be afraid that I would snap off the head, so I'm not going to recommend it. I would be careful about using a torch, since it might damage the seal, or bearing packing on the differential. One last resort would be to buy an impact gun. They make cordless models, and even an impact adapter for an ordinary drill (made by Jacobs that also makes chucks). Harbor Freight makes one that plugs into the cigarette lighter. A plug in type is good. I have one from Ingersol Rand that is rated @ 290 ft. lbs. An air impact gun is good if you have a compressor with a storage tank.

 

[94_explorer]

Ok, thanks for the additional tips. I was checking out the impact guns at harbor freight. The 12v one that plugs in the cig lighter is rated at 150 ft lbs but has 30 to 40 blows per minute. Then they have an 18v cordless that they rate at 1044 inch lbs (is that only 87 ft lbs ?) but has 1700 blows per minute. I wonder which one is better? Then they have a more expensive cordless that's rated at 220 ft lbs and 2300 BPM. I don't want to spend a whole lot more, but if I can get an inexpensive one that works, I'm sure it would come in handy for other parts of the job.

 

['97 V8]

you kniw what else you could do....use a small bottle neck jack to brake it looose. I used one doing my front brakes as the bolts wouldnt come loose on the passengers side. It just turned the wrench with no problem.

 

[DeRocha]

Forget about the HF electric thing... My mom bought it for me as a gift several yrs ago and I promptly returned it..(it didn't have the power to remove my 100ft/lbs lug nuts) :thumbdwn: I own 2 impact guns: 350ft/lbs craftsman & 1000ft/lbs Ingersoll Rand and wouldn't get anything less then 500ft/lbs... The cool thing about using them is that you don't have to secure the object being worked on..
example:
With a breaker bar you'd have to loosen a wheel's lug nuts while the tire was on the ground or you'd wouldn't be able to stop if from turning as you tried and muscle it off. But with an impact gun you could lift the wheel in the air and bling bling the lug is off and the wheel didn't spin an inch...

The mechanic could have used loctite on the bolts... If so use a propane torch on each one for 30sec - 1 min .. This will burn it off and is the only way to remove the RED loctite which is permanent (unless heated to 500f).

Before removing any bolts put the Tranny in "N" and rotate the shaft until you can reach them all.

 

[DeRocha]

... I would be careful about using a torch, since it might damage the seal, or bearing packing on the differential.

If your heating just the bolts then your go to go as the pinion seal is far away...The seal would only get affected if you tried to heat the whole flange for several minutes.

 

[Jason94sport]

Wow, sorry your having so much trouble. The bolts on mine came off fairly easy. I had a 1/2" 12 point 12mm socket with a 9" 1/2 ratchet & they came off with some force.

If you have 4x4, the guy might have only took the front of the driveshaft off the x-fer case. Then let it hang down from the rear or tied it up.

 

[DeRocha]

Jason's post just reminded me that you should mark the flanges on the shaft's and T-case so you can install them back into their original positions. This will prevent any out of balance and vibrations issues if you install them otherwise...

 

[410Fortune]

Liquid wrench them for a couple of hours, soak them from both sides.
Get yourself a 1/2" drive ratchet with 12 point socket. Get yourself a 2-3' piece of pipe that will fit over the ratchet. Leverage is the key.
IMO there is no bolt that you cannot get to loosen with a long enough lever and strong enough ratchet.

 

[sn0border88]

guys, the thing you are forgetting is that yes, a pipe on a breaker bar will do the trick but he is working on the drivesaft, under the truck. A breaker bar is a tight enough squeeze, if he can manage in a 3' piece of pipe as well.... damn. Just get a cheap propane torch and take your time. They will comeout eventually, try moving them in both directions, this will help.

 

[410Fortune]

I have used a 3' breaker on these bolts many times, thats why I reccommended it.
If the driveshaft needs to be rotated to get the next bolt in position you can easily turn it (Jack under 8.8)
The extended bar sticks out the side of the truck, there is enough room under the rocker.
You also do not have to use the wheels to keep the D shaft from turning. If there is limited room under there put the rear axle on jack stands.
Use another smaller pry bar to keep the D shaft and wheels from turning, on the trail I have used a hammer many many times. the claw of the hammer can be placed in the CV portion of the D shaft and let it rotate against something (T case, frame rail, etc) so the D shaft wont turn. Large flathead can also work...

It will save you time and blood if you get the right tool for the job, even if you have to get the truck up off the ground.
With 33" tires and spring over I always forget how easy the BII is to work on, I can swap transmissions without ever getting out the jack or ramps

 

[Creager]

you can be crazy like me and 'roll' the truck back and forth with your foot to spin the driveshaft

again, i wouldnt advise that if you had a brain.

You can do this to break the bolt free too, let the truck do the hard work, all you have to do is hold the wrench.

 

[Brock94]

I also used an impact wrench on the bolts, so I can't help you much there-- one thing though, since yours is probably as rusty as mine-- Once I had the bolts out, the driveshaft flange didn't want to separate. I had to use a hammer and chisel around between the two flanges to get them to come apart-- I put a jack stand under the drive shaft so it wouldn't fall when it came apart.

Of course all this is after you get the bolts out.