Over the winter I had to push car in and out of shop a few times and noticed a bump noise in either direction and only happened once in each direction. Got under the car a couple of weeks ago to make sure suspension is tight. I can jack the car up and in neutral turn the wheels by hand and don't hear noise. Then checked driveshaft and noticed that if I push up on the front yoke, the output shaft in the tail housing seems to move a lot and there is a gap at top of seal like the shaft has dropped down. This is a TH400 with a manual valve body and stock internals. Car runs 11.30. Is this about to become a problem with the trans and should go ahead and replace it? Don't want it to wait until Bowling Green to let me down. Thanks David
pull off the tailshaft and replace the bushing . be sure that your driveshaft is the correct length. if its a little too short , the yoke will 'hang ' and cause movement and wear . also check your yoke for wear from the bushing in the tailshaft
bushing Thanks, I was wondering about the bushing and I did notice that the yoke seemed a little further out than I thought it should be, I have had some rear suspension work done and it may have relocated the shaft just a little. How much should extend out when the car is level on all 4 tires? Also, a good place to get a drive shaft built up? Thanks, David
I was told by a company that makes drive shafts that you should push the yoke all the way in and measure from the center of the universal joint on the yoke to the center of the universal joint on the rearend. This is with the car sitting at rest on all four tires. Then you subtract 1" and that is how long they make your new driveshaft.So the yoke should stick out about 1".
on a 400 turbo i'd go about 1 1/4 - 1 3/8 back .if its been like this fo a while ,ya should take a good look at the splines for odd wear , both on the tailshaft and in the yoke.
driveshaft Pulled the driveshaft last night, marked where it rides, shoved it in and marked it again. Difference was 1 1/2 inches, had 1 1/2 inches in the trans. Yoke is galled where it rode on bushing. New parts on the way and a local driveshaft maker lined up for Friday. Thanks, David
