i just pulled mine apart and needed tothread the center nut back on the driveshaft so there was enuf room to pry the rear driveshaft forward. it would not go far enuf without doing that. . . . . .

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david h
83 300D Alabama Beauty (Son's)
83 300D West Coast Rust Free that been abused

I tried the whole chisle thing, but those flanges are stuck. I'll need to bang harder o guess

Is it really necessary to remove the rear section of the driveshaft from the car, or are you just doing it for convenience? It looks like from the pictures once the carrier bearing bolts are out and the snap ring removed the bearing could be replaced without taking the rear driveshaft out. Am I missing something?

The center bearing is pressed onto the splined-neck of the rear driveshaft section. On the car, It may be very difficult, if not imppossible, to get a drift & hammer in the tunnel space, and drive off the old bearing.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I'm going to use a air hammer and try to chisel it out

Carefull. Don't damage the flanges or tranny!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I would be careful with the chisel, also. Did you remove the transmission mount? That will give you more access. I did mine this weekend. I got the driveshaft out with the transmission mount in, but removed it for the install.

I think I got my flex disc freed up by pushing and pulling on the center of the shaft at the carrier bearing. If you cannot compress the shaft at the spline, you may not be able to get it out. There is a protruding shaft at the center of each hub on the tranny and differential that centers on a hole in the drive shaft.

By the way, I had trouble loosening my gland nut with channel locks, pipe wrench, or crescent wrench and did not feel like buying a 46mm wrench of the job. I took some half-inch steel plate and a sawzall. Two blades later, I had this beauty:

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83 300TD, 260,000 miles, aka "Dusty"
6 vehicles, 2 cup holders (both in the dump truck)

The tool tip is placed "alongside" the lobes of the flange, you can see the edges of the flex disk's steel bushings if you look closely! You put the tool alongside the lobe with its tip on the edge of the steel bushing and give it a whack, it should come out with just a hit or two. Good Luck!

I was lucky with the gland nut. after a few turns with the adjustable wrench, I was able to hand loosen it off.

I wish I wasn't at work so I can work on getting that thing off!

The bearing itself is press fit onto the driveshaft splined shaft, when replacing it needs to be pulled/driven off and pushed/driven on. The carrier bearing mount/bracket is a seperate part that is installed over/around the bearing itself and insulates the driveshaft/bearing from the chassis via its moulded rubber surround.

Once you get the shaft to telescope freely and get the driveshaft disconnected at both ends, re-tighten the the 46 mm nut to secure the front and rear driveshaft sections together. That way it will not pull apart as you remove it to the rear, or you can match-mark the drive shaft sections with the nut out of the way where they meet. That way you can get the driveshaft back together and maintain its balance after being seperated.

Because you will need to seperate the driveshaft sections to R&R either a carrier mount or bearing you will need to match-mark the front and rear sections before seperating no matter what!

You might want to more precisely define "it" before you mislead someone into making a costly mistake.

OK, that makes sense, probably alot easier when everything is out of the trans tunnel.

Ok so here how the driveshafts came off:
I bought an air chisel hammer. But before I tried doing that I rocked the car back and fourth. I did this by turning on the car and putting the car in drive and driving slowly forward. Then I stop and put the car in reverse and drive slowly back. Sure enough, the axle finally came off the flex discs.

So I pulled the rear halfshaft off, no problem, pulled off the bearing and put the new bearing and carrier on.

As I'm placing the rear driveshaft back into the front, I notice that I cant place it, compress it and have room for the rear of the rear driveshaft to rest on the diff and flex disc.

so I would guess, I need need to take the transmission mount off the make room. How to I suspend the transmission? Or does it need to rest on the crossmember?

What are some tricks to fit the driveshaft back in?

Did you try freeing the flexdisc from the diff-flange first, then with the center support free, working the shaft & flexdisc onto the diff flange?
It may be impossible to collapse the driveshaft enough to get the shaft's pilot bushing over the flexdisc if the disc is still bolted solidly to the diff-flange, and/or if the center support is bolted to the tunnel first.
If you decide to attack this problem from the tranny-end, the same issues may apply. In any case, if you need to remove the tranny-mount, remove it with the crossmember, after putting a jackstand under the tranny for support.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW