drive shaft

[69chevytruckin]

I have a 69 LWB Chevy truck. And the center u joint where that center carrier bearing is the clips for it are not going in. They are in there firm but are not going into the groove. IS there any trips i can do to get the clips in, or has the driveshaft had its days. if so how much would a new propeller shaft cost it is a LWB. any opinions or comments are most appreciated.

[hyarbour]

It's possible a needle bearing (or several) dropped down inside the cup. If some have dropped out, you'll probably need to replace them
If they're in place I usually push one cup in a little past the groove, put that clip in the push from the other side to get that one in.
If I don't have a press available; I'll use a big C-clamp and two sockets, one that'll fit throught the bearing bore and the other big enough for a bearing cup to fit through.
good luck

[passthebuck]

Somestime, you must take the c-clip & sand it down on one side making it thinner. This will keep the ujoint from being too tight.

[brad_man_72]

you can make the clip thinner, but id check for dropped needles first. no need for a new shaft worse to worse you can get a new weld yolk. any case best to have ballanced as an assembly after new u-jointd, definatly after any welding.

[Phaedrus]

First take the joint back out and verify that you didn't drop any needles in the cap, then use a dremel w/ a small cut-off type wheel to clean all the rust/dirt/crud out of the snap ring grooves. Drive your first cap in slightly past the groove, and install snap ring. Install second cap and drive in until second snap ring fits. If at this point the snap ring still won't go and your positive there are no dropped needles, use a large drift and hammer to drive cap until it does. Then give the yoke a smack with a ball peen hammer near the base (bottom of the ears) to loosen the joint. Never grind the snap rings themselves, the heat will ruin the temper and they'll loose their "spring", instead grind of the tops of the caps a very little at a time, and only as a last resort.

[69chevytruckin]

thank u for these helpful comments, i love this website