Seized slip yoke

[northerngmc]

I am trying to remove the rear half of my drive shaft and have run into a problem.

Truck is a 68 c20 with a Turbo 400 and the truck has a 2 piece drive shaft.

I have removed the nuts on the ubolts at the rear end housing but the shaft will not slid forward into the slip yoke which is located just behind the carrier bearing. I have soaked this joint with penetrating oil and thought I would give it a few minutes before trying again.

I have tried tapping the yoke on the slip joint with a soft blow hammer but it will not slide.

The truck has been parked since October and I did drive it from one garage to the other to work on it but I doubt the suspension moved enough to move the slip yoke.

Any suggestions? Or am I missing something obvious.....
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[TBONE1964]

Try a pry bar between the rear end yoke and the joint. You will need one about 36" long. It may take a couple of quick jabs. All you need is to move it far enough to get the u joint caps of and it should come out.

Try and un bolt the center bearing and see if that will help you. Once you get the rear u joint out of the rear end yoke, you will be able to pull the complete shaft and work on it on a bench.

[Longhorn 70]

The grease in there does get stiff and causes it to bind. If you have a compressor, take out the grease zerk and put a rubber tip in the hole. Give it a shot of air....... I have also squirted Kroil or WD40 in there too and then added the air.

[Sicklajoie]

Originally Posted by TBONE1964

Try a pry bar between the rear end yoke and the joint. You will need one about 36" long. It may take a couple of quick jabs. All you need is to move it far enough to get the u joint caps of and it should come out.

Try and un bolt the center bearing and see if that will help you. Once you get the rear u joint out of the rear end yoke, you will be able to pull the complete shaft and work on it on a bench.

x2 good luck

[kwmech]

Throw some heat at it, like you would use for soldering copper pipes

[northerngmc]

Thanks, the rear shaft is sitting in the bench.

I used a pry bar on the rear and forced it forward. Then I had to use a rachet strap to the trailer hitch to pull it off of the splines.

Now to get new u joints and back together before the 2 feet of snow outside melts.
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[brad_man_72]

...... um now you have to clean the splines male and female and see if their is any hinge movement (up and down) and hinge movement will require a new slip, stub, carrier bearing and ballance. Torsional play is usually not a big deal. I'm not positive but these trucks may be new enough to have a blue neoprene coating on the splines so make sure its not worn down to the steel anywhere.

I hope you marked how your shaft was installed first, and that it was still in time.
You also need to mark the slip yoke to the rear shaft. And flipping or rotating of parts will destroy the ballance on the shaft. Use a good ujoint like spicer or neapco not precision or house brand joints, they are junk.

Whoever said use heat, that's a sure fire way to destroy the stub if it has the neoprene coating.

Its never a bad idea to have a shop ballance your shaft after doing any work. They will probably find things you missed and knowing your shaft was ballanced as an assembly gives you a little peace of mind.
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[brad_man_72]

If the slip was locked up you have probably destroyed the rubber around the carrier bearing. The heavy duty bearings weren't designed to move in the brackets like the light duty. I know we have extra laying around our shop right now, unless your local driveline shop has recently hired a new guy or is building mercedes sprinter shafts they probably won't.
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[northerngmc]

Originally Posted by brad_man_72

...... um now you have to clean the splines male and female and see if their is any hinge movement (up and down) and hinge movement will require a new slip, stub, carrier bearing and ballance. Torsional play is usually not a big deal. I'm not positive but these trucks may be new enough to have a blue neoprene coating on the splines so make sure its not worn down to the steel anywhere.

I hope you marked how your shaft was installed first, and that it was still in time.
You also need to mark the slip yoke to the rear shaft. And flipping or rotating of parts will destroy the ballance on the shaft. Use a good ujoint like spicer or neapco not precision or house brand joints, they are junk.

Whoever said use heat, that's a sure fire way to destroy the stub if it has the neoprene coating.

Its never a bad idea to have a shop ballance your shaft after doing any work. They will probably find things you missed and knowing your shaft was ballanced as an assembly gives you a little peace of mind.
Posted via Mobile Device

Yes I marked everything before removing and disassembling. I don't have a drivetrain shop in my area so getting it balanced would be a little tough. I will make sure it goes back in aligned like it came out.

I left the yoke splines to soak with penetrating oil and I will try and clean them up one night this week. The truck only has 92,000 miles on it, I am thinking the splines will be fine once clean again.

[brad_man_72]

Vinegar and a wire brush works great on the inside of the slip yoke. I can imagine it could be difficult to find a driveline ballancer in canada.
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[Steeveedee]

Most anything that a person needs in Canada is not more than 50 miles north of the US. North of there, you'll be on your own pretty much.