Hello All:

Spent a few minutes with the search function (no luck) and would welcome anyone who can steer me to a solution that may already be on the forum.

Several years ago I replaced a CV boot on the right side of my '87, 315k PU and don't recall removal of the drive shaft being too much trouble.

Not so on the driver's side. 6 bolts on the inner end have been disconnected and the locking hub assembly, as well as the snap ring are off. Situation is that no combination of twisting and turning seems to give me the clearance I need to pull the freely moving shaft out the wheel hub. Seems I need the lower wishbone to drop another inch. Tried with the truck on it's wheels, steering lock to lock; truck jacked up, with steering lock to lock and still not enough clearance.

Also tried levering down on the suspension in various areas to buy some room, but the suspension seems to be at full extension.

Looking forward to advice!

 

undo the sway bar and the shock.

 

No, you have it backwards. When the suspension is extended (at all), the angle of the half shaft is wrong, and you'll never get it out unless you start removing sway bars, shocks, ball joints, and on and on.

Instead, put a jack under the rotor, and lift up until the weight just comes off the jack stands. Compress the suspension as though it were sitting on the wheels. Then the half-shaft will come out without any further disassembly.

(Some on this forum have reported needing a tiny bit more, so they lift the opposite corner just to compress the suspension a little more. I never needed it, but you can see what direction (compress, not extend) you need to go.)

And don't feel (too) bad; the FSM doesn't give much insight into how to do this.

 

scope103 & xxxtreme22r:

Thanks for your input.

One of my removal efforts was with the wheel on the ground so don't see how jacking under the rotor will change anything. Nonetheless, will pull the wheel, jack under the rotor and, if necessary, lift the opposite corner to buy additional clearance. Meanwhile, have penetrating oil soaking the lower shock and anti-sway bar attachments :-)

Film at 11 !

 

Hello again:

Just taking a break from the CV boot project. The driver's side shaft is laying on newspapers on the garage floor and I'm preparing to make the punch marks, pull the clip and tap the tripod joint off the end (now where is that brass rod?).

Turns out that both of the folks who provided advice on this project were right. Raising the lower wishbone (wheel off), till the truck came off the jack stand, still did not provide clearance and raising the opposite corner did not help either. Disconnected the anti-sway connection to the wishbone, as well as the lower shock attachment and lowered the suspension to the limit. Still no joy. Jacked the suspension up till the truck just came off the jack stand (suspension at same level as sitting on the wheel) and the shaft came out...until the outer CV boot jammed between the shock and the anti-sway connector :-(. Pulled the bottom of the shock free and removed the anti-sway connector, moved the jack up and down till I found a sweet spot, and the shaft finally came out.

Still kind of puzzeled that searching for info on this job came up without any solutions. Can only speculate that CV boots on 4x4's really don't get much of a work out, compared to FWD autos, and have a much longer life expectancy (315k, on mine). As a result, perhaps very few owners have had to do this work (?).

Thanks again to scope103 and extreme22r for assistance.

Now, where do I add tags?

 

Just took the truck for a successful test drive Woo-woo.

A suggestion to anyone tackling this job: resist the urge to disassemble the manual freewheeling hub. Had a hard time getting it back together...maybe it's just me.

Found another issue under the front end, but that's a subject for another post...after a diligent search, of course.

And notice, that in an effort to set a good example, I have stayed with this post to it's final outcome.

Be well!!

 

I hope when you put it back together you pounded out at least 3 of the studs and used bolts instead? It makes it WAAAYY easier next time you have to take the shaft out. If not, next time.

 

Flash319:

Was hoping no one was gonna bring up that embarassing point. I did not realize they were studs and broke a 12mm socket en route to breaking them loose (duh). Was too embarassed to mention it earlier, but anyone looking to pull that shaft really needs to know.

Ended up tapping them all out

Even with the studs removed, the drive shaft was still a PIA getting past the inboard hub. Don't believe it's doable with the studs in place.

 

haha kinda not looking forward to this this weekend when doing swimmerboy's 3rds.

 

actually this is one of those times, it's best to tear that apart to regrease/rebuild it. It is a little tricky to get back together though , I will agree with that. Big trick to that is to make sure it's in free fully before putting the hub back on.