Drive Shaft and Diff Will Not Come Together

[deutschman]

So I installed Condor Speed Shop sub frame riser bushings, and diff bushing today. After getting the sub frame bolted back in with all the other parts, I could not get the drive shaft close enough to the diff to bolt together. I have no idea why this is happening. I have installed other bushings on other e30s and never had this problem before.
Could the fact the CSS bushing are almost completely solid be throwing stuff off?
Maybe its because the front of the car is on the ground and the back is all the way up in the air. Maybe the car is bending?
Any ideas?
Maybe I have some parts installed incorrectly?
Pictures of how things are sitting...
This is how the sub frame bushings are installed.

Drive shaft. This is as close as I can get them together.

Diff spacers from CSS

Diff bushing

[Cletonius]

I'm assuming the slip joint has been loosened? The DS should extend that far if you've got the jam nut loose.

[deutschman]

Ill check that tomorrow. Thanks

[Vivek]

Yep it sounds like your drive shaft is just pushed back in. You normally have to loosen the nut and push it back in to drop the diff, but if yours was already loose it could have pushed in without you realizing it. I have all the same parts and didn't run into this issue.

[deutschman]

Very good to know. As I said Iv done this a few times before and never had the drive shaft pushed back, so I thought something went wrong.
Thanks guys.

[Cletonius]

How did you drop it if you didn't collapse it all? Did you pull it as a unit still connected to the subframe? (I did)

The yoke on mine is right smack in the center of the opening in the subframe. Mine also has studs on one side, don't remember if it was the DS or diff that had them though.

[E30Gus]

What does the Diff spacer do?

[nando]

What does the Diff spacer do?

nothing by itself. it's meant to be used with extended subframe bushings, which raise the subframe up into the car reducing toe and camber. the spacers keep the diff and pinion angle the same as stock.

[Cream]

bump! im having this issue as well, i'm replacing the factory ds and it still has the bell housing on it, does this cause the gap if i dont want to use the harmonic balancer....? when i ordered my ds they needed the last 7 of vin because they have 3 models of ds available. i believe some ds dont come with factory harmonic balancer and would not be short? i just want to know if theres any other way to remove the harmonic balancer and not have the gap...

[mousesfriend]

Hi im having a similar issue. i bought a new driveshaft but upon installation, theres almost a 3/4 inch gap at the differential flange and driveshaft flange, its already bolted to the tranny, and ive tried vise versa. either way theres that gap.

I havent installed new bushings or anything. ive pulled it out the DS twice to check its length and its exactly the same length as the one that came out. Could this indicate a problem elsewhere? is there a trick im unaware of?
I left my car up overnight supported in the rear on jackstands. I also had a jack putting pressure on the differential at the same time all night. could this have pushed or stretched something to the effect that its further away from the driveshaft than it should be?

And Cream, ive read numerous places you can remove the balancer or put a driveline without it in your car with no ill effect. The balancer bolts on to the backside of the flange and does not increase or decrease clearance between the transmission flange and drive-shaft flange. what i mean is its not sandwiched in between, its mounted on the backside where it pretends not to exist.


edit:
Heres a comparison, i tried to demonstrate that the flanges are parallel to eachother.


with or without the balancer the overall length should be unaffected.

[mousesfriend]

i feel like its important i not leave this an unended mystery for future searchers and diy'ers.

theres a collar nut at the center of the driveline. i loosened it a little and the driveshaft was able to extend the correct distance, an important property of a functioning driveline. it was collapsed "short" during shipping.

when i pulled out my stock driveline i collapsed it "short" while pulling it out without knowing. both new and old were identically "too short" to go back in as a result.

[Cletonius]

I like it when people post their solution.

When I did mine I had to loosen it to get the shaft out. The Bentley tells you to check the collar nut first.

[deutschman]

Yeah I loosened the color nut by holding it with a vice grip (not to tight) and then I just turned the drive shaft with my hand (as it was not connected to the diff). It loosened up quickly, slid out, bolted up to the diff, and tightened the color nut back up.
Not sure why I have never had to do this before.