[TR] TR6 prop shaft removal

[Dave1massey at cs.com]

In a message dated 4/3/2010 11:32:51 AM Central Daylight Time, 
mhooper at digiscreen.ca writes: 
> I'm fairly convinced I have a bad U-joint in my TR6's driveline. It's
> aggravating that there is not an obviously bad u-joint visually, but I 
> guess
> they aren't that clear until apart. It's gone from a rumble at highway 
> until
> now almost unable to go faster than 5 mph without shrieking and rumble, so
> lucky just to get home. Since the rumbling and scraping noise is about 3-4
> times faster than wheel speed, I guess it is in the prop shaft rather than
> after the differential. Rear hubs and diff are all new inside and left 
> right
> play on shafts seems about equal.
> 
> It's been too long since I did this job. Does the prop shaft come out 
> forward
> or back? i.e. I have the rear of the car on ramps and have removed my 
> exhaust
> system, but it's still not 100% obvious which way it comes out.
> 
> I'm thinking of undoing the output flanges on the diff first so that I can
> spin the diff and the prop shaft and avoid having to disassemble the 
> interior
> to get at the top flange bolts.
> 
> Am I missing some easier way to go about this?
> 

Hi, Mark.

It is rare to be able to determine a bad U-joint without removing the shaft 
from the car.  Since you have a 72 it is likley you can remove the shaft 
easily from the car.  it should easily come out toward the front.  The later 
models with the J-type overdrive are much more problematic.  The flange bolts 
are almost inaccessible and there is no room for removal of the shaft.  
Let's hope you car is the former, not the latter.

Dave