Swapping rear drive shaft, question about alignment on reinstall

[chris070780]

I’m trying to diagnosis an acceleration vibration issue with my 91 Exploder. It’s acting a lot like a bad u-joint yet I can’t feel any slop in the joint, but I have yet to remove the shaft. I have a known good drive shaft on my parts truck. I know when you remove the drive shaft you are suppose to mark where it was so you can realign, but what about in this case? Does it really matter in the end? I obviously can't put this shaft in the same exact position because its from a different truck

 

[fsumotorhead]

Marking the D-shaft is an old wives tale.

That being said, i mark evey shaft i take apart..lol. I figure if it didn't vibrate before, why take the risk.

I would make the shafts before removing them, more for when you reinstall them in their perspective vehicles.

 

[chris070780]

Yeah I was kind of figuring that it really truly didn't matter. It really shouldn't if you think about it. Just wanted to be sure since I was already dealing with a vib issue.

 

[Baddecision93]

I was told by a driveline shop that if you replace the driveshaft with a used one you need to put the used yoke and driveshaft from the old truck (don't mix your current yoke with your parts truck's driveshaft).
And then supposedly you're supposed to make sure to mark the one you're putting on before you take it off the parts truck (to make sure you put it on your running truck the exact same way).

Idk if you actually need to do all this though. I had my driveshaft fall out and ended up completely taking it off & when I put it back on I have no idea if it was the same (my markings rubbed off). And mine seems to be fine.

 

[Maniak]

When we had a custom shaft made for the mustang I ask about phasing and he said since it has a slip joint in it, that isn't keyed that I need to make sure I keep the 2 pieces of the drive shaft in-line.

He put stickers on them (arrows) so we could phase the 2 pieces of the drive shaft correctly.

He said how they end up on the back of the trans and the diff won't matter.

~Mark

 

[atxexplorer94]

It doesnt matter,I had my slip yoke removed and my driveshaft balanced and its been fine ever since,the shop welded washers on it or something to balance it,only cost me like 80 bucks for new u joints and a lifetime balance