Half-shaft disassembly

[Bambikiller240]

Glad you go them out Mark. If your hands aren't too greasy, please snap a few pictures & post for our future references.

Your pics of the Rear Wheel Bearings were great and will be a big help to people doing that job in the future.

The problem I remember most from doing this job is getting the new boots onto the outer part of the half shafts without splitting them. If you find a good method, share it with us.

[mdbrandy]

FWIW the grease in mine looked BRAND spanking new, much better than I can say for the CV's I bought to replace the shafts. That grease looked like milkshake, I'm sure the PO drove through a puddle at some point.

The grease in mine looks like it started out as the kind of translucent yellow grease that Nissan seems to have preferred. Up in the grooves, it was pretty black, though. The stuff at the bottom of the yoke behind the shaft was still fairly clear and yellowish. There was still a lot of grease in there, and it probably didn't actually need to be redone, but now I'll have new, synthetic grease in the sliding portion, new U-joints, new boots, and a nice paint-job on the outside. Hopefully I won't have to touch the half-shafts for a LONG time!

[mdbrandy]

Glad you go them out Mark. If your hands aren't too greasy, please snap a few pictures & post for our future references.

Your pics of the Rear Wheel Bearings were great and will be a big help to people doing that job in the future.

The problem I remember most from doing this job is getting the new boots onto the outer part of the half shafts without splitting them. If you find a good method, share it with us.

Will do. I photo document just about everything I'm doing. That way I can remember how to put it all back together! Also, when I do essentially the same thing to the parts from the '70 240Z, I will at least have a fighting chance of it all going smoothly!

I'll let you know if I have any trouble with the boots . The new boots I put on the steering rack were a major pain to get on, but they stretched quite a bit...it at least looks like sliding them onto the shaft here shouldn't be as hard as the steering rack...

[jmortensen]

If you chipped a ball or anything let me know and I'll mail you a couple.

[mperdue]

I recently took my 240 ones apart to replace the boots. I took them to "drive shaft king" here in Dallas. Those guys had never seen a half-shaft like this before. With my help we got them all apart, repacked and replaced the boots. Really a nightmare getting those little spacers back in right and sliding it back together. I hope to never have to do that again. Are you working on a 280Z or do you just have 280Z shafts for some reason? Anyway, I'd like to see the pics too when your'e finished. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures of mine.

[mdbrandy]

If you chipped a ball or anything let me know and I'll mail you a couple.

I "think" I'm OK. I just wiped down all the small parts and did a quick inspection, and all the balls look OK. A couple of the plastic spacers are a bit rough,but it looks like they probably came that way. The concave ends where the spacers cup each ball look fine. If I come across anything as I look closer, I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer!

[mdbrandy]

I recently took my 240 ones apart to replace the boots. I took them to "drive shaft king" here in Dallas. Those guys had never seen a half-shaft like this before. With my help we got them all apart, repacked and replaced the boots. Really a nightmare getting those little spacers back in right and sliding it back together. I hope to never have to do that again. Are you working on a 280Z or do you just have 280Z shafts for some reason? Anyway, I'd like to see the pics too when your'e finished. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures of mine.

What makes it so hard to get back together (he says...anticipating having to do it soon...)? It looks like you should just be able to slide the shaft in a little bit, add a layer of balls, in a little more, add a layer of spacers, in a little more....etc. until you get them all in. Is it a matter of keeping the shaft straight in the yoke bore or something?

I just took some pics of the pre-cleaned up parts. As I clean everything up and then get ready to put it back together I'll take more and post some.

Edit: Oh, and I am rebuilding the rear on my 1978 280Z, so I am working on a 280. The 240Z rebuild is coming along a lot slower since I'm trying to get the weld work done before tearing into too much of the mechanicals.

[Bambikiller240]

I don't remember any problems getting them back together, but then again, I didin't have any problem getting them apart either. Guess I was lucky on both ends of the J.O.B.

Since I have a spare set, maybe I should rebuild them one of these days before I have an immediate need for them. It's not like it costs much at all to do them.

[webdawg1]

I cleaned up that other picture I made reference to in my previous post. Might help somebody out down the road when they get ready to do this job on their Z.

webdawg1

[Bambikiller240]

Yeah, that's a good illustration to have around. Thanks.

[Ed]

What makes it so hard to get back together (he says...anticipating having to do it soon...)? It looks like you should just be able to slide the shaft in a little bit, add a layer of balls, in a little more, add a layer of spacers, in a little more....etc. until you get them all in. Is it a matter of keeping the shaft straight in the yoke bore or something?

When I reassembled mine I did just that one layer at a time. As you add a layer try and push the shaft into the bore a little to move the balls down. I had trouble getting the last layer of balls to fit. It was a pain. Pushing, pulling, trying to get it all together. But once it was assembled it worked just like it was supposed to.

[clint72]

I found a really easy way to install boots. Take a long black funnel and cut it to fit the end of the shaft, grease it well and slide boot over! Works awesome. Cheers!