RedForeman
Newbie
I'm halfway thru changing the tailshaft bushing and seal. I got an eBay kit that came with the bushing, yoke seal, case seal, and a smaller o-ring I'm guessing must be for a slip yoke application (mine is bolt on with the 2 piece driveshaft). The new bushing and seal are pressed in, and the new case seal is in place. That part looks fine.
A few things caught my eye as not right, so I stopped and decided it better to ask the internet brain trust first before just throwing it together and hoping for the best:
- Is my guess about the smaller o-ring in the kit correct? There wasn't one in there when I removed everything. There's a groove deep near the end of the splines it might fit on the output shaft, but I don't see how the yoke would even reach it. No place in the yoke for it.
- I see the plug that lines up with the bushing oil port on the extension housing. It has what looks like an o-ring, but it didn't come out. Leads me to believe it's a seal made into that plug, so I did not dig at it hard for fear of damaging it. Is that something I need to source and change out? Seems like it would be important to have a good seal there, since that supplies lube to that bushing. I can't find any posts even mentioning this seal.
- After cleaning things up, I slid the yoke onto the output shaft with the extension housing still off. I see that it will slide up on the splines way past it's normal position. Obviously the bolt keeps the yoke from coming out. It appears the bushing is the only thing that would limit how far it goes in. Is that how it's secured? I was expecting there would be a shoulder on the output shaft for the bolt to tighten against, but there isn't any.
- I found RTV under the bolt/washer when cleaning parts. Also saw a post somewhere on a leaky yoke thread saying that's how it's done. Just looking to confirm this. I'm not a fan of using RTV for this sort of seal, especially considering my last concern about how that yoke secures to the output shaft. Seems like it will have a slight amount of float in/out that would not be ideal for sealing oil at that bolt/washer surface. But if that's how it's supposed to go together, I'll grab a tube and do it.
Just some additional info that may or may not matter...
I bought this truck a couple months ago, it's showing 155k on the odo that seems legit considering the condition everything is in. Other than it being about 3 qts low on trans fluid upon heading home after the sale, I haven't observed any obvious leaks. The previous owner claimed it would leak out a puddle of ATF if parked on an uphill incline. I never tried it to verify. But, have had it up on a lift at work and noted excessive side play at the output yoke. That, along with what looks like the wrong u-joint causing a bit more side play, and it's installed backward and nearly impossible to grease. The yoke seal was a little wet, but no evidence of ATF slinging off it or any red puddles where I park. The project that brings me here was changing that u-joint and putting in a new tailshaft bushing and seal while the driveshaft is out. Ideally resulting in reduced side play and potentially solving that parking uphill leak the PO claimed it had.
All that said, it's a 28 yr old truck that's had who knows what done to it. The PO seemed to be a fan of eBay and junkyard shopping, not that there's anything wrong with that, but IMO increases the odds of incorrect or almost right part swaps in the past. I've also had to tidy up numerous DIY fails on this truck, making things like that even more likely.
I'm tagging @NickTransmissions, as I don't know any transmission techs that would field some dumb questions. These seem like an ordinary assembly issues and I feel I'm either overthinking it or missing the obvious. Which can be bad or good at times. I've been a tech for over 30 yrs, and spotting things like this and getting them resolved is why I rarely have comebacks.
A few things caught my eye as not right, so I stopped and decided it better to ask the internet brain trust first before just throwing it together and hoping for the best:
- Is my guess about the smaller o-ring in the kit correct? There wasn't one in there when I removed everything. There's a groove deep near the end of the splines it might fit on the output shaft, but I don't see how the yoke would even reach it. No place in the yoke for it.
- I see the plug that lines up with the bushing oil port on the extension housing. It has what looks like an o-ring, but it didn't come out. Leads me to believe it's a seal made into that plug, so I did not dig at it hard for fear of damaging it. Is that something I need to source and change out? Seems like it would be important to have a good seal there, since that supplies lube to that bushing. I can't find any posts even mentioning this seal.
- After cleaning things up, I slid the yoke onto the output shaft with the extension housing still off. I see that it will slide up on the splines way past it's normal position. Obviously the bolt keeps the yoke from coming out. It appears the bushing is the only thing that would limit how far it goes in. Is that how it's secured? I was expecting there would be a shoulder on the output shaft for the bolt to tighten against, but there isn't any.
- I found RTV under the bolt/washer when cleaning parts. Also saw a post somewhere on a leaky yoke thread saying that's how it's done. Just looking to confirm this. I'm not a fan of using RTV for this sort of seal, especially considering my last concern about how that yoke secures to the output shaft. Seems like it will have a slight amount of float in/out that would not be ideal for sealing oil at that bolt/washer surface. But if that's how it's supposed to go together, I'll grab a tube and do it.
Just some additional info that may or may not matter...
I bought this truck a couple months ago, it's showing 155k on the odo that seems legit considering the condition everything is in. Other than it being about 3 qts low on trans fluid upon heading home after the sale, I haven't observed any obvious leaks. The previous owner claimed it would leak out a puddle of ATF if parked on an uphill incline. I never tried it to verify. But, have had it up on a lift at work and noted excessive side play at the output yoke. That, along with what looks like the wrong u-joint causing a bit more side play, and it's installed backward and nearly impossible to grease. The yoke seal was a little wet, but no evidence of ATF slinging off it or any red puddles where I park. The project that brings me here was changing that u-joint and putting in a new tailshaft bushing and seal while the driveshaft is out. Ideally resulting in reduced side play and potentially solving that parking uphill leak the PO claimed it had.
All that said, it's a 28 yr old truck that's had who knows what done to it. The PO seemed to be a fan of eBay and junkyard shopping, not that there's anything wrong with that, but IMO increases the odds of incorrect or almost right part swaps in the past. I've also had to tidy up numerous DIY fails on this truck, making things like that even more likely.
I'm tagging @NickTransmissions, as I don't know any transmission techs that would field some dumb questions. These seem like an ordinary assembly issues and I feel I'm either overthinking it or missing the obvious. Which can be bad or good at times. I've been a tech for over 30 yrs, and spotting things like this and getting them resolved is why I rarely have comebacks.
