HD carrier bearing conversion

[nxtruck]

Guys,

This may sound like a stupid question, but, how are you supposed to get the front shaft in place when using the HD-style carrier bearing in these trucks? I'm converting from a 1-piece back to a 2-piece shaft because of vibration issues and cannot figure out how to get the front shaft in place. When the slip yoke is slid up as far as it will go, the center of the carrier bearing hits the center crossmember. No matter how I've held my mouth, I can't seem to figure out a way to get it in there. I took this shaft out of a '68 C-20 and it had a bolt-on front yoke instead of a slip yoke at the trans and I'm wondering if all the trucks that used the HD bearing also had bolt-on yokes at the trans.

Any ideas out there?

[StepSide1965]

Originally Posted by nxtruck

Guys,

This may sound like a stupid question, but, how are you supposed to get the front shaft in place when using the HD-style carrier bearing in these trucks? I'm converting from a 1-piece back to a 2-piece shaft because of vibration issues and cannot figure out how to get the front shaft in place. When the slip yoke is slid up as far as it will go, the center of the carrier bearing hits the center crossmember. No matter how I've held my mouth, I can't seem to figure out a way to get it in there. I took this shaft out of a '68 C-20 and it had a bolt-on front yoke instead of a slip yoke at the trans and I'm wondering if all the trucks that used the HD bearing also had bolt-on yokes at the trans.

Any ideas out there?

I remove the metal housing from the carrier then push it back through the center support, after unbolting from the rear end.

[nxtruck]

Originally Posted by StepSide1965

I remove the metal housing from the carrier then push it back through the center support, after unbolting from the rear end.

Are you talking about the horseshoe-shaped bracket that holds the rubber insulator and bearing? This driveshaft, although a 2-piece, actually slips apart just behind the trailing arm crossmember. It's different from the standard 2-piece shafts that use the upper-mounted carrier bearing. This carrier bearing sits on a bracket that bolts to the bottom of the trailing arm crossmember. Captainfab makes the necessary bracket for this swap, although his is based on the factory brackets.

[Captainfab]

This. You should be able to get the front shaft with the rubber on it back thru the hole in the crossmember. If not carefully remove the rubber from the bearing.

Originally Posted by StepSide1965

I remove the metal housing from the carrier then push it back through the center support, after unbolting from the rear end.

[nxtruck]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

This. You should be able to get the front shaft with the rubber on it back thru the hole in the crossmember. If not carefully remove the rubber from the bearing.

Thank you, sir, for this info! I will give this a try.
Thanks again for the help!

[nxtruck]

Wanted to let you guys know that I got the driveshaft installed. On the bottom of the carrier brg. assy., there's a thin metal strap with ears on each end that are bent over the ends of the bearing bracket. Once I bent the ears on one side, I slipped the strap off and the u-shaped bracket slid right off the rubber insulator. The rubber insulator fit through the center hole in the crossmember and I was home-free!

Thanks again, StepSide1965 and Captainfab, for the help!!