The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline U-joint connection.

I just re-installed my drive shaft and differential and the u-joint connection if off center about 1". I can pull it over adn make the attachment but that seems to put a lot of presure on the joint. Is this normal. What should I do if anything?

Make, year, model truck?

Yes, the year and model matters. Mine is a half ton with torque tube setup. I loosen off the shackle bolts, measure things carefully from side to side and everything came together. Sideways pressure on the joint can't be good.

Somehow my last reply came across as unregistered.
The truck is a 1952 1/2 ton as stated, original rear end. I had all of this apart to rebuild and instll 3:55 ring and pinion. I also had the springs off to clean and new bushings. They may have gone back on different sides then they came off. I measured from the front spring shackle back to the pin on both springs. It measures slightly off each other. I might try switching springs from one side to the other and see what happens. A slight diference on the back would make a big difference up front. I did try just loosening the shackle bolts and moving the tube to center. That helped some but not enough. Any ideas would be appreciated.

There is a section in the manual regarding rebuilding the rear end. It shows at one point measuring the two diagonals from the housing ends to the front of the driveshaft. I always thought it was something not to worry about but maybe it would tell you something.

Have you confirmed your banjo housing isn't upside down?

I don't quite understand the upsidedown question. Far as I can see there is only one way that assembly can go back together. What I ended up doing was I oversized the holes in my rear end that fit the pin in the spring. It did not take much to get the front of the tube to move over 3/4' of an inch. I figured with the shackles holding everything in place that a less then perfect fit would not be a problem. It only changed the angle of my rear end by about 1/8". I think the problem is the frame may have been slightly bent which caused all of this. It is all together now and staying that way.

I just finished dealing with the same problem on my '51 3100 and 4-speed. Ended up grinding just a little off the mounting pins, just enough to bring the torque tube into alignment. I had chewed up two universals previously. Hopefully, will be ok now.