Driveshaft popped out of place

jdeale84 · Post by **jdeale84** » Fri Jul 19, 2024 4:40 pm

Hey everyone, so I've been busy changing my ball joints and I've managed to press out and press in the new ones so I'm pretty much done but whilst doing the work with my hub off, my driveshaft on the passenger side popped out of place and now the hub won't go back on because the driveshaft is sticking out. Not sure if its the shaft into the gearbox or the extension bit to the hub, but when I try and press it in you can hear the metal clunking at the adjoining bit of the two shafts Are there any tips and tricks to put this back in place? It's the last thing I need to do before putting my entire suspension back together.

Post by **vanzep** » Fri Jul 19, 2024 5:01 pm

For manual gearbox - The passenger side shaft fits onto the intermediate shaft which is bolted into place so that wont have moved.
So the driveshaft could have come part way off the intermediate shaft so that may need a whack to get it seated back in place. The only other issue could be there is a set ring on the end of the shaft which can make getting the shaft into place difficult. The driveshaft is splined so you will need to line the splines up. Some remove the set ring as it can be a pain. Your best to get both hands on the the cv joints as pushing one end of the shaft to get it seated wont work. Hope this helps.

Post by **Vtecmec** » Fri Jul 19, 2024 10:43 pm

Sounds like the inner driveshaft spider has separated.

Is it loose inside the inner rubber boot? If so you'll have to remove the boot and line it all back upz which is a bit of an arse.

jdeale84 · Post by **jdeale84** » Tue Jul 23, 2024 10:54 am

Thanks you @vanzep and @Vtecmec
Trying to get the driveshaft off as we speak to re-align it but it is really stuck on there. I've been hammering away at the inner side trying to get it off but I don't want to break the driveshaft or rip the cv boot to get it off because getting sourcing another driveshaft is a pain in the arse and expensive. I have one lined up near by if I need but he wants £120 for it. Hopefully that's not the case, but I just really need the car back on the road asap.

jdeale84 · Post by **jdeale84** » Tue Jul 23, 2024 11:00 am

Is it this ring which is most likely the source of my problem?

Post by **Vtecmec** » Tue Jul 23, 2024 11:52 am

That top piece is the half shaft, it bolts to the block to keep it in place. Have you removed it from the block and are struggling to refit it?

OR

The bottom piece is the driveshaft, has this separated inside one of the boots and you cannot get it to compress enough?

OR

Are you struggling to get the two to fit together?

jdeale84 · Post by **jdeale84** » Tue Jul 23, 2024 5:17 pm

I managed to get the driveshaft out, I see the issue, the driveshaft came out enough that the bearings came out and then once they were out, they wouldn't align properly. It was a faff trying to realign them with the boot off anyway, can't imagine having to do that with the boot on. I only found this out after cutting the boot off to see what was going on inside. If I had known I could have at least tried to re-aligned the bearings with the boot on but its just one of those things. Oh well, now I know.
I'm picking up a new driveshaft tonight which is a bit of a setback but oh well, mystery solved. Just want to get the car back on the road now.

Post by **Vtecmec** » Tue Jul 23, 2024 6:10 pm

Glad you fixed it.