Rear Drive shaft - Civilian/Military Conversion

[bullseye605]

All;

Let me start out by saying I DO NOT have an M1009 (though I want one!), instead I have a 1991 (last year of the full sizes) GMC Jimmy (badge engineered Chevy K5)...

My rear end was destroyed when my school's facilities department thought it would be a good idea to plow me in over spring break when I was away on a sports trip - so I found a NOS M1009 rear axle assembly (gov-bomb, 3.08 gears, 6 lug, etc.)...

I just installed the NOS axle assembly - put new shocks in, red-did the rear brake lines, etc. - but when it came time to put the rear drive shaft in, I had an issue...

It seems that the u-joint bearing size on my civilian driveshaft (at the axle) is different from the M1009 axle yoke - (1.188 in at driveshaft, 1.137 in at axle yoke)...

From what I've read here, it seems that the axle/rear drive shaft assembly is universal between civilian k5s and M1009s - can anyone explain why in this instance it's different - has anyone had similar experiences when swapping between military and civilian parts? Is there a work around (if it's conversion u-joints, I can't find them) ? Does anyone have part numbers for u-joints (if you've found them)?

Thanks in advance for your help in solving this issue!

-Mike

 

[Recovry4x4]

Can't explain that one but you could probably liberate the yoke off your old rear axle and install it on the new axle.

 

[on1wheel01]

I bought a civi diesel drive shaft from the salvage yard, as I keep having problems with my custom double slip yolk one. The u joint caps were so much smaller than mine. I bought the correct ones and it fit perfect. Not sure if this helps or not

 

[doghead]

How did getting plowed in, cause the damage?

Go to a FleetPride for a u joint.

 

[bullseye605]

recovry - That might work if I can source a new drive shaft - ideally, I'd like to keep the one that I have - We'll see...

on1 - That's where I'm at right now - the yoke caps are smaller than the drive shaft caps (only by a maddeningly small amount, but just enough)...

dog - I was seriously plowed in - read: my front stayed put, my back was about 45 degrees out of alignment with the front - I suspect that my diff. gears were knocked out of alignment, and it got worse from there - I wound up with three chipped teeth off the ring gear, luckily it didn't lock up! - I'll look into fleetpride, a bit of a hike for me, but might be worth it...

I found a similar thread that specified that NAPA parts PUJ-235 or NPJ P534Gmight work - any input there?

Thanks!

 

[Recovry4x4]

What I was saying is keep your existing driveshaft and the ujoint you have. Remove the yoke from your old rear axle and place it on your new rear axle. Your existing drivehshaft did work with the removed rear axle, correct?

 

[bullseye605]

recovry - That did cross my mind - but I'm worried about screwing up the pinion pre-load if I replace the yoke - I've read that by removing the yoke, I'd have to replace the crush sleeve and re-set the bearing pre-load...

There was something about staking the pinion nut, but I'm not sure what was trying to be communicated...

Swapping the yoke sounds like a great solution, but the reason why I bought a NOS axle assembly was that I wouldn't have the mess with the gears...

 

[Twicepipes]

I never had a problem getting a combination joint with different size bearing caps. You just need to go to a Napa or Carquest where they know how to read a catalog. You already have the cap measurements all you need is the width across the shaft and across the yoke.