[QUOTE=Scott98;2176606]Step 10: Picture of rear driveshaft with old - if you were to pull the bracket off the driveshaft, it would take the carrier bearing with it.

The bearing rests on the mount shoulder when pressed in. The mount shoulder is adjacent to the shaft circlip when installed. If the mount were pulled off it may leave the bearing on the shaft. The mount deep V should be facing the differential.

I was under the impression that one would press the bearing into the rubber support mount prior to installing the bearing/mount onto the drive shaft. For the user(s) who mentioned placing the bearing in boiling water, did you install the rubber bearing mount after you installed the bearing on the shaft?

Or did you place the bearing/rubber mount assembly into a few layers of freezer zip lock bags, of which was placed into boiling water? If that is the case, would not the high temperature degrade the rubber components?

Analogous to your heating method, can the drive shaft centering sleeves at the front and rear of the drive line be frozen to ease with installation?

For those who did not use the hot water trick, how did you press the bearing onto the shaft if the soapy water was insufficiently slippery for the job?

On my 1979 240D, the rubber V-channel on the outer-most portion of the support has the narrower end of the V pointing towards the U-joint. Meaning that if the bearing-to-rubber support interface was all loose, the rubber support would pull off the spline-end and leave the bearing behind. There seems to be conflicting views on how this should be installed. I am not sure why.

Lastly, I was able to separate the splined intersection of my drive shaft without loosening the 46 mm nut. This seems to imply that I've been driving around with an untightened centre nut. What damage could this cause?

Is the reason for tightening the centre nut while the car is on all 4 wheels to set the proper drive line length for flat level operation? What about the cases when the car goes over bumps? On my Jeep, the drive line is meant to extend and contract with the terrain. Why is this not the case with these W123 vehicles?

Thanks a lot!