I've got a 1982 300td, and a 1980 300td donor car that I'm going to take the rear end out of. Is there anything that I need to know about swapping out driveshaft, diff and cv joints into my car? I'm mostly concerned about driveshaft alignment when swapping from one car to the other.

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1982 300TD 300,??? miles, daily driver turned donor
1982 300TD, 184,000 miles, daily driver

Most important, is the fact that the 1980 differential will have a 3.46:1 ratio, while the 1982 will have a 3.07 ratio. The 3.46 will cause the engine to run at considerably higher RPM's and be much louder at hiway speeds. Fuel mileage will also likely suffer!!

If I understand the direction of the swap, it is not recommended.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150

What is your reason for doing the swap in the first place?

If I were you I'd replace all the rubber components if you are planning to do all that work. And I'd also consider doing the sub frame mounts.

You've probably got the same transmission so you won't have any differences in length along the drive line.

Are are a few DIYs worth having a look at here:-

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/DoItYourSelf

PS

X2 on the differential gearing - check that first

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I'm actually in the process of doing the same thing. All sub-frame and trailing arms from my '84 are being sent to powder-coating this week and all rubber/bearings/brakes/mounts are being replaced.

I wouldn't worry about the drivetrain alignment. The drive shaft will align from where it mounts to the tranny and the center bearing. The rear diff will pretty much center to 99% just based on the tight clearance of the diff mount and the subframe mounts.

Some have mentioned that there is a toe alignment kit for the rear trailing arms. You'll have to have an alignment check to see if that will apply to you. Other than that, just follow the DIY articles and the FSM.

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'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter

I was going to take the drive train after then transmission and swap it over, that is until I got the brand new tires off and saw the condition of the boots, which are garbage. So it looks like the driveshaft might be the only part that I take out of the drive train, and I'll just R&R everything that I can find on my end and hope that it takes care of the vibrations and whatnot.

In the meantime though I'll be stripping off everything else on that car, brakes, trailing arms, sls components, the idea is to turn the car into a carcass and then sell it for scrap. The donor car has no working hvac and the body is rusted beyond repair.

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1982 300TD 300,??? miles, daily driver turned donor
1982 300TD, 184,000 miles, daily driver