Driveshaft broken bolt dilemma

[Boomer453]

U joint went out and lost my rear drive shaft. Bought a new drive shaft but when it went it sheared off the u joint retaining bolts at the rear u joint (rear diff). I'm not sure I'll be able to EZ out the broken bolts.
What are my options? Can I just unbolt the diff side of the u joint mount and replace it?

In the middle of moving 3 hrs away, could use some advice in a hurry lol.

 

[Vtx531]

You can replace the part. It's called a rear pinion yoke. Depends which method would displease you the most. I'm cheap so I would probably try getting the bolts out if I could but the yoke may be damaged as well during the incident. Probably best to replace the yoke.

The procedure for replacing the yoke is a little (a lot?) more complicated than just unbolting it. Depends if you have Dana 35 or Dana 44 too.

Given that you are in a hurry and how you are asking the question, you might be best to take it to a good shop to replace the yoke or get the bolts out.

 

[Tob]

U joint went out and lost my rear drive shaft. Bought a new drive shaft but when it went it sheared off the u joint retaining bolts at the rear u joint (rear diff). I'm not sure I'll be able to EZ out the broken bolts.
What are my options? Can I just unbolt the diff side of the u joint mount and replace it?

In the middle of moving 3 hrs away, could use some advice in a hurry lol.

If you have a NP241OR transfer case (Rubicon models) or if you have installed a slip-yoke eliminator, you can remove the rear driveshaft and drive it in four wheel drive for the time being. If you don't have one of the two above, the output of the transfer case is a slip-yoke drive and will be left unsealed if you remove the driveshaft.

 

[Boomer453]

No time to get in with a shop so I'll need to install the yoke here. I have one ordered and it should be available at 5pm.
As long as I install with the same orientation of the yoke and the depth of the exposed threads I should be good to go correct?

 

[Vtx531]

No time to get in with a shop so I'll need to install the yoke here. I have one ordered and it should be available at 5pm.
As long as I install with the same orientation of the yoke and the depth of the exposed threads I should be good to go correct?

Do you know what axle you have?

If Dana 44, you need to measure the rotating torque with an inch-pound beam torque wrench and then torque the new nut until the rotating torque matches the first reading (wheels and brakes removed). The yoke nut sets pinion bearing preload. Need a tool to hold the yoke too while you tighten the nut. If you don't do it properly, you can ruin your pinion bearings and will need an entire axle gear rebuild.

If Dana 35, you can probably do the nut "tight" and be fine because it uses a crush sleeve.

Driving it without the rear driveshaft in 4wd is a good idea. This repair isn't something you want to rush and do without knowledge of what you are doing. You can run a 231 tcase with slip yoke just fine without the rear driveshaft too.

 

[Boomer453]

I've been driving it in 4wd while I waited on the new axle.

It's a dana 35