Front Drive Shaft

[coolio2281]

my bronco is a 93 with 5.8 d44 in front and my problem is my front diff is soo gone i can get under the truck and prolly spin the fron shaft 80-90% around before it actually locks up, my question is i have alot of weird clunking and s**t going on under there can i just unbolt the front drive shaft iam also having problems with my 4x4 sometimes it partially engages so i wanna resolve all of this by taking the shaft off the trucks a long way away from using the 4x4 anyways plus i live in florida...any thoughts on this? and if i can where should i unbolt it from?

 

[Justshootme84]

Completely remove the driveshaft both from the t-case and the front diff yokes, then put it up in the shed. It doesn't hurt to drive without it, you just won't have 4WD if you ever need it. If you have manual hubs, be sure to unlock them, too. JSM84

 

[coolio2281]

cool thats what i was lookin for i have soo much play in my front shaft and diff its stupid i just wanna take that off to avoid any problems at all

 

[coolio2281]

yeah so i took the drive shaft off it drives alot smoother not my question it i took the shaft off by taking 4 bolts off the front and back of the shaft is that the correct way? drives good no vibrations

 

[Justshootme84]

Yes, unbolt the u-clamps or bolts that go into the yokes. wrap masking tape over the u-joint caps, so they don't fall off of the drivshaft in storage.

 

[coolio2281]

ok thanks alot for the info i appreciate it u sure do know your s**t!...haha i do have another question tho, i got my t-case rebuilt/transmission rebult greased the s**t outa my drive shaft/yokes and still there is some clunking when i put it in gear, i read around and noticed i may need a new ring/pinion and bearings, my question is how hard it is? i would like to do it my self i love doing things myself and plus i just cannot afford the labor this may cost as i realized when i had my t-case and everything done...any info be greatly appreciated thanks again jsm84

 

[Seabronc]

Randy's Ring and Pinion http://www.ringpinion.com/ has instructions and is willing to give you help if you need it.

Good luck,

>-

 

[Justshootme84]

cool, is the clunking in the rearend, or when in 2WD? IF you've never done a r&r on the rear diff (yours is the Ford 8.8"), I would leave that to a pro or shop. The ring and pinion gear need to be setup properly, with the right amount of backlash and preload, so they mesh together properly. You do need a few special tools to do this. With that said, I've done 3 or 4 swaps in the past few months on my brother's dragstrip Mustang with the same rear axle, and it can be done in your garage. You have to pull out the axleshafts and pull the r&p carrier out from the back, so it's better to have the axle out from under the vehicle. You could save a little on labor by pulling out the entire rear end and taking it to a shop for repairs.

The front Dana44 TTB has a carrier that you remove from the back side, too, after pulling the axleshafts. That is a lot of labor to get to the "chunk", but it still has to be setup for propere mesh. I posted a couple of videos in the How-To &Tech Articles forum on changing gears that you can view, then decide on what might be wrong. JSM84

 

[coolio2281]

ive prety much gone thro everything it may be...transmission is compleately rebuilt...transfer case rebuilt...took the truck back to the shop and they said it is not the t-case and transmission...so it has to be the combination of a 10 yr old driveshaft and rear end

 

[Justshootme84]

That clunking when shifting from Park into Drive is most often a bad u-joint in the rear driveshaft, especially the one at the end next to the rear axle. You can crawl underneath, and see how much slack the driveshaft hasa, and how much play is in the pinion yoke on the axle. JAck up the rear wheels, and check for excessive endplay and slack in the axles, too.