[67drake]

Hi guys.
Lower ball joint snapped hitting one of Illinois finest potholes. The halfshaft pulled out of the tranny when it broke,and pretty much fell apart.So I put in new lower ball joint,tranny seal,and new axle.

Problem is-how do you compress the lock ring on the transmission output shaft to get the axle back on?? The new axle's edge is beveled,so it looks like if lined up correctly that the ring will compress when hitting the beveled edge,but no go.
Are these supposed to just slide on this way,or is there a trick to it? Not any clearance to get in there to compress the ring by hand,so it looks.
If it is supposed to just slide on,I wonder if the lock ring got distorted when the axle pulled out??
Thanks for any help!
Drake

[67drake]

The more I look at it,the more I think maybe the lock ring IS distorted.
It looks to be kind of horseshoe shaped,as opposed to C shaped. Maybe this is the problem.
I have never done one of these so I'm not sure what shape this lock ring is supposed to be. If anyone knows,please let me know.
Thanks!

[hobbygto65]

There supposed too just slide in, might need a tap with a dead blow hammer.

[schalmat]

your lock ring is distorted,alot of them come that way as they get over stretched upon the re-manufacturer installing them.,carefully remove the origional one from the old axle and use it if you still have it.usually one end of the clip gets bent and wont compress into the slot.

[67drake]

[IMG][/IMG]
Not the greatest pic,but here is what it looks like. It looks to me like the very ends of the "split" in the ring stick out a little too far??
The trans output shaft is where the ring is,as you can see. So the reman was on the axle shaft,not the trans. shaft. I'm guessing when the axle got yanked out of the tranny,it might have F'ed up this snap ring. It does not look TOO bad,but I don't know what else to try??
I'll try whacking it on with a hammer this afternoon when I get back to it. Nothing to lose at this point. Just thought maybe someone knew a trick for this.

[george kujanski]

I would try to re-shape it B4 beating on it. If nothing else works, I would try a file on the ends to take down the hi spots. It'll work if it's circular, but not if it's egg-shaped.

George

[fbody_mike]

Also, apply liberal amounts of tranny fluid to the ring before sliding the shaft back in. Also try inserting the new shaft without the snap ring to make sure the splines are ok. If it fights without the snap ring then it is time to take the shaft back to the store.

I had a ball joint bust on my 99 Lumina, broke the shaft, took out the fender, what a mess. And it was a royal PITA to get it on and off the flat bed.

[67drake]

HA HA! We think alike! I had not read the last two replies yet,I just came in to update,and that's pretty much what I just did!
I pulled the snap ring off and ground the ends of it slightly,and was just about to put it back on and figured I'd try the shaft without the snap ring-no go. The old one slides right on though.
I calipered the ID and they are the same,as well as the spline count,but the new one appears to have slightly boogered splines. I don't know if this part of the new unit is rebuilt,or restored,but it won't fit.
Auto zone sucks,I went to NAPA first,but they have to order it,so I settled for Autozone garbage because it was in stock.
Thanks for all the help guys. I believe it will work fine once I get a good axle on there!
F-body mike,yeah,when mine went it took out the plastic in front of the wheelwell,and smashed my fender into the door. It pumped the tranny fluid out so fast I could not even back the car up to get it out of the road,and I was blocking 2 lanes.I was only 1 block from work,so I had a buddy pull me out of the busy street I was in,before the cops could come and give me one of their $300 tows.Oh well,just my beater anyway.
How hard was it to get the snapring to seat in the axle? Chiltons said to tap on the lip of the inner shaft to drive it in and seat the lock ring.

[fbody_mike]

To get the snap ring in takes a little effort. I found the easiest way was to get the strut and assembly as far forward as possible then hold the shaft perpendicular to the transaxle, try to make sure the shaft is fully compressed then give it a nice jab. Each time I installed them it seemed to work better with a little momentum behind it rather than just pushing on it. I have never used a hammer to install one, I think it would be a bad idea given the amount of frustration could lead to some big hammer blows.

I have had alot of "fun" with these half shafts, much of which is documented over at 60degreev6.

[67drake]

Thanks!
Just went and picked up the new one from NAPA,and it went in on the 1st shove. Won't come back out,so it must be locked.
Actually,that was the easiest part of this job so far! They also had sold me the wrong tranny seal,but I won't go into that.
F-body,since you have done ball joints on your Lumina before,I have a question.
I drilled out the original ones,then knocked the rivet off with a chisel,no big deal. But the bolts that come with the new ball joint are a hair smaller than the hole in the steering knuckle,so there is some slop in the positioning of the joint.Wouldn't this throw the alignment off slightly?
I centered the bolts in the holes best I could,but it's just by eye. I thought this may be wrong,so I tried a different brand ball joint,same thing. You would think they would make the bolts the same diameter as the holes in the steering knuckle??