Newb with a Loose FJ40 Front Drive Shaft

[NodrogCD]

Prior to finding this forum my technical expertise was limited to adding windshield washer fluid to my car. Thanks to all of your posts I have fixed the lights, and signals in my 74FJ, replaced the shocks and believe it or not, actually changed my own oil.

While changing the oil I noticed that the front drive shaft had about a quarter of inch of play where it connects to the extension housing. I also started having trouble with the transfer case leaking oil which is about the time my speedometer stopped working. So after studying my Chasis and Body manual I decided to drain the transfer case. What came out looked like dark chocolate syrup. After looking at the drain plug I also noticed some very small flakes of metal along with gritty feeling gear oil that was on the magnetic end of the plug. So here is my question. What do you think is causing the play in the front shaft and how do I fix it?

Thanks in advance for any and all help. Bad pictures and video available.

Nodrog in Maine

 

[B y r o n]

Are you talking fore/aft movement or rotational movement?

 

[NodrogCD]

Good question. The movement is side to side or rotational.

 

[spotcruiser]

Front output bearing and seal. Fairly easy to replace with the transfer in the truck.

 

[NodrogCD]

Thanks for the encouragement spotcruiser. So when you say replacing the output bearing and seal is fairly easy, what does that mean. Does it mean that I just need to remove the cone. I have actually loosened most of the bolts that hold the cone to the case except for one that is hidden behind the transfer linkage. Do I need to remove the linkage in order to undo the last bolt? It also looks like I there is nut that I need remove as well. What happens after I get the cone separated from the transfer case? Remember, you are talking to someone, who until two weeks ago, had never voluntarily crawled under a vehicle. Thanks.

 

[65swb45]

Do some thread searches on transfer case overhauls. The info on servicing the cone will be part of it.

Make sure the needle bearing in the main output shaft is ok while you have the cone off. With that much freeplay, it could be worn too.

Best

Mark

www.marksoffroad.net

 

[spotcruiser]

Yeah, you need to remove the front output housing (cone). You've drained the case and you need to drop the driveline at the transfer front output. I believe there are 5 bolts holding the output housing and I don't recall that any of them are particularly hidden behind anything. You should be able to reach them with a socket and extension. The housing needs to pull forward about 1/2" or so from the transfer case to be free of the transfer case. You will probably need to pull the nut off the shift linkage stud (passenger side of transmission) and move the linkage outboard a bit so that it clears the transfer shift shaft and allows you to pull the transfer housing away from the transfer case. Don't pry on the housing, just work it out by hand. You don't want to crack off an ear at one of the bolt locations.

Replacement of the bearing and seal should be covered in the Chassis and Body Manual. You need to un-stake and remove the stake nut, remove the drive flange, remove the seal, pull the snap-ring, tap the shaft out of the bearing ID (if it doesn't just pull out), and tap the bearing out of the housing. Then you install the new bearing, snap-ring, seal, shaft, drive flange, and stake nut. You can do all of that on a bench and it's pretty easy with rudimentary tools. It's good to have a 7 or 8 inch long brass punch to drive the bearing out of the housing, but you can use a steel punch or steel rod and just be careful. You'll want to have a replacement output housing-to-transfer gasket on hand, along with the bearing and seal. You can install the gasket dry, but I like to give them a light coat of Aviation Form-a-Gasket.

If you have other issues going on with the transfer case at the moment, you may want to consider doing a rebuild of the whole case. If the front output bearing has a lot of wear, the others probably do also. That front output bearing gets less mileage and wear than any other bearing in the case.

 

[bikersmurf]

For a cheap brass drift, I joined a brass toilet bolt to a long bolt with a wide coupler 'nut'. You can find the necessary pieces at any hardware store.