U Joint/Driveshaft, How Screwed am I?

[adamj]

Doing the rear driveshaft u joints, the one at the differential. I'm using a press tool (giant c clamp, not a hydraulic press). I go to press the u joint out, and it fights me a bit, but in the end it goes through. I remove the opposite cap and proceed to press it back to remove the opposing cap. This is where it gets really difficult and it comes to a stop. To my horror, I see that a burr has formed and the cap has dug in. I reverse it and back it out and see this:

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How bad is this? and is my driveshaft totaled? Is there anything that can be done?
I'm not sure if I caused this or not because it was very difficult to remove going the other way, but I could be at fault here too if I pressed in at an angle? which I don't know how that's possible...

 

[Georgeb]

At this point you do have an issue. If it were mine I would attempt to buff that down with a sanding spool and attemp a reassemble. The clips will hold the joint in and it may work fine. I would be looking for a replacement drive shaft or have that one repaired in the long term.

 

[adamj]

Thanks for the reply Geogeb! I think I will just start looking for a replacement at this point. Even if I can grind that down smooth, I have a feeling I will have problems down the road with the u joint going bad prematurely, probably because it's not a tight seal?

Unfortunately, finding driveshafts in junkyards is next to impossible because when they use the lifter to move the vehicles into position, they end up bending the driveshafts...
I am also thinking that even finding one that fits my vehicle to begin with will be difficult because a burb with sm465 is not so common. I'll be on the looking for someone parting out.
For 4wd, are the driveshaft lengths different depending on transmission?

How about a repair? This side of the driveshaft doesn't have a slip yoke or something removable that I could swap out. It has the ears (or whatever its called) welded to the body of the driveshaft directly, so a repair would entail cutting, re-weldind a new piece, balancing, etc. I feel that at that point a new driveshaft would be cheaper.

Going to go look at Tom Woods Driveshafts...

 

[HotRodPC]

Looks to me like rust got it. Keep in mind, years do matter. I sent my 91 Burb driveshaft to 89 Suburban for his 90 and it didn't fit. The length was right but the location of the carrier bearing was different. Just saying, before you BUY, I'd size up the length.

 

[adamj]

Could be the rust, this thing's been through a lot...

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I'm scheduled to bring it in to a drivetrain specialty shop anyways, so I'll bring it along and see what the experts say. I'll be using the front axle to get me there, which should be fine. How about the rear output shaft from the transfer case? Will this be leaking atf if the rear driveshaft is not connected?

 

[Georgeb]

If you have a fxed yoke on the output of the tcase you will be fine but if you had a slip in yoke that goes with the drive shaft and you can see the splined shaft with a gap around it you will leak. Any good driveline shop should be able to cut that bad end off there and install a new one for less cost than a whole new shaft.
I gotta say that sucks. All you wanted to do was make an improvement and you ended up with a mess. I would literally be sick if I were in your shoes!

 

[adamj]

Yep, this really ruined my day. But I've grown to expect these things working on old trucks. It's often the simplest things that go bad. I often think, "oh this is easy, I can do this in an hour, it's just a couple of bolts." But as soon as I say that, there's always a possibility for something to go wrong. Happened a couple months ago with my shocks when the through-bolt seized to the bushing.

I thought it might be the case with not being able to drive with just the front axle... My rear driveshaft does have a female slip yoke that goes into the transfer case, and a bit of ATF came out when I removed the driveshaft today. So I will have to get that driveshaft repaired first, and then take it in for the rear end work after those shiny new Spicer u joints I have waiting here are finally put in.

That seems like a unfavorable design though, having that slip yoke there. So if I was on the trail and tore my driveshaft apart or something, I would be stuck - I couldn't even limp home on front wheel drive...

 

[adamj]

Brought it in to a driveshaft shop, they welded on a new piece, and I put in both new u joints as well. This made a huge difference in throttle response - no more clunking.

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[89Suburban]

Brought it in to a driveshaft shop, they welded on a new piece, and I put in both new u joints as well. This made a huge difference in throttle response - no more clunking.

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Nice!!! I went through similar hell with mine last summer. Something simple turned into a major clusterfuck.

 

[bucket]

That seems like a unfavorable design though, having that slip yoke there. So if I was on the trail and tore my driveshaft apart or something, I would be stuck - I couldn't even limp home on front wheel drive...

You could still limp it home, you would just have to top off the fluid in the t-case when you got there. Obviously you would want to keep the speeds lower.