Quick drive shaft question

[AZmike]

I can't get the left drive shaft all the way seated back into the transmission. It's got about 2 cm to go. Any ideas? It's in just far enough that the splines are engaged.

Any ideas? I'm hoping to finish this job as soon as possible.

[bigpoppa88]

did you hear the snap ring click in? pry it out a bit to see if it is seated.....

[AZmike]

No, I don't think that the ring has seated. It never has snapped nicely like the other one did. I've removed it a few times and it looks ok. Any ideas on how to bend the ring smaller? Maybe it's too big.

[Dutchboy]

get someone else to help you out...

all it needs is probably a good push...when i helped out my buddy with his cvs...it was much easier to have the extra hand to help..

and we pushed on the knuclke itself too to get it in all the way

Ben

[shepherd79]

yeah that part is the bitch. i used a rubber hammer and very-very light hamering worked for me everytime.

[bigpoppa88]

after I put the cv joint in the transmission, I put the splinned spindle in the rotor, held onto the rotor with both hands and gave it a "shove".........

[YK86]

I usually spin the axle/joint with my hand to make sure the splines mesh properly first (like you have with about 2 cm or so to go) and then give it a bunch of semi-hard taps with a rubber mallet. If the lower ball joint is disconnected from the lower arm, I grab the rotor and sort of swing out the suspension a bit (with the outer hub nut and axle connected to the suspension) and ram it lightly.

[AZmike]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I must have spent 4 hours trying to get that thing in on Sunday. I'll spend some more time tomorrow. Since the right side went in without a whole lot of trouble, the left has sort of surprised me. I'm still thinking that the set ring is too big so I'll see if I can bend it smaller.

I managed to poke a small hole in the inner cv boot. What is a good way to patch this? I was thinking of using a glueless bicycle tube patch.

[YK86]

I used a rubber bike tire patch before too (with glue) and it held up really well until I replaced the whole thing.

[AZmike]

Thanks Yasu. I finaly got a chance to try your idea today and it worked great. The upright and brake hammered the end in nicely. I finally got to drive the car after it being apart for the past 10 days. Now to patch that boot and screw all the wiring brackets back together.

[YK86]

Glad it worked. As for the patch, I forgot to mention make sure you clean all the grease off of the boot. Use a strong cleaner because the CV grease is very thick and is pretty hard to get really clean.

[AZmike]

Yeah, I was planning to. I bike a lot and have gotten pretty good at patching the holes left by all the thorns I run into. Fixing the CV boot should be like patching a tube with that slimey tube sealant in it.

If only I had tried your way first. It would have saved me 4 hours Sunday. Oh well, better late than never.

Thanks again