rear subframe removal: remove entire driveshaft?

[irish44j]

I'm down to the last stage of the rear subframe removal with everything else on the rear end removed. The only holdup is the driveshaft. Since it doesn't compress enough on the slip-joint to clear the rear subframe, I'm assuming the answer is removal of the DS.

The real question - if the slip-joint shaft-lock-nut is loosened, can the rear half of the driveshaft be removed by itself (leaving the front shaft/middle bearing/guibo attached), or can the DS only be removed as a single piece?

thanks in advance.

[Hick]

yes but make sure you mark the ds because it is balanced.

or, just remove the whole thing, it takes very little work

[irish44j]

yes but make sure you mark the ds because it is balanced.

or, just remove the whole thing, it takes very little work

thanks, yeah definitely will mark it. Only issue with removing the whole thing is getting it out with the forward exhaust section still in place.

Does the slipjoint locknut need to be completely removed, or just loosened?

[bmwstudent]

to separate the two halves you will need to remove it completely from the rear section, then pull hard. Definitely mark it

[mrsleeve]

Its been a long time since I have done this. But I dont remember pulling the Drive shaft to get it out. IIRC I just slipped it off the diff, and then dropped the diff out.

I may have pulled the drive shaft though I honestly cant remember

[Massimo]

You can remove the sub-frame with out removing the DS. So remove the nuts that connect the DS to the diff. Then slip the diff back as far as it will go. Now start to lower the Sub-frame, you will get to a point where the DS will be sitting on that pipe that connects between the fuel tank. Now at this point you may be low enough the the diff bush is clear from the mount and you can simply back the sub-frame out. Or it may not quiet clear like mine so you have to bend the pipe a little.

[mrsleeve]

^

That sounds like how I did it, but I dropped out the Diff before trying pull out the sub frame

[irish44j]

You can remove the sub-frame with out removing the DS. So remove the nuts that connect the DS to the diff. Then slip the diff back as far as it will go. Now start to lower the Sub-frame, you will get to a point where the DS will be sitting on that pipe that connects between the fuel tank. Now at this point you may be low enough the the diff bush is clear from the mount and you can simply back the sub-frame out. Or it may not quiet clear like mine so you have to bend the pipe a little.

thanks, that's exactly how I ended up doing it, and it just cleared.

Getting it back in the same way with new subframe bushings may be a bit more difficult, we'll see :)

[Wh33lhop]

It was a bit of a bitch to get the driveshaft reconnected for me. I had to wedge a pry bar in the expansion joint and twist it to expand it, then got a nut on one of the studs, cranked down on it, plus lots of lever action. It worked in the end, just funny how tough it was after removal was cake.