Just looking for a bit of advice on this one. I'm changing various suspension parts on the front of the 4x4. It's obvious that I had pulled the drive shaft a little further than intended and had dropped the tripod joint out of the gearbox into the gaiter. I've relocated it and it seems to rotate smoothly enough with a fair bit of resistance (no idea how much resistance I would encounter when turning the shaft manually with cold oil...?). So what are the chances that I have damaged the tripod joint either in pulling it out or pushing it back in? Would you be inclined to pull back the boot to inspect the joint just in case...? Firsts time I've done this job so I'm a little unsure but obviously I want to avoid a gear box full of needle bearings!

Ta

Don't worry it will be fine. It won't feel bearing smooth as you are turning the diff gears. Check the rubber boot for cracks and to make sure you haven't pulled it off the boot off the gearbox, even a little. I managed to pull the boot last time I did suspension stuff and I didn't realise I had unseated it from the gearbox, it fell off some miles later pouring my gearbox oil all over the office car park!

Ouch Thanks for the tips.

nitro_warrior said:

Don't worry it will be fine. It won't feel bearing smooth as you are turning the diff gears. Check the rubber boot for cracks and to make sure you haven't pulled it off the boot of the gearbox, even a little. I managed to pull the boot last time I did suspension stuff and I didn't realise I had unseated it from the gearbox, it fell off some miles later pouring my gearbox oil all over the office car park!

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I second all the above advice.

nitro_warrior said:

Don't worry it will be fine. It won't feel bearing smooth as you are turning the diff gears. Check the rubber boot for cracks and to make sure you haven't pulled it off the boot off the gearbox, even a little. I managed to pull the boot last time I did suspension stuff and I didn't realise I had unseated it from the gearbox, it fell off some miles later pouring my gearbox oil all over the office car park!

Click to expand...

I'll third that.

I managed to do this but on me ma and pa's drive :-(

Thanks everyone. I'll be sure to check the boots very carefully!

good idea to just check the gearbox oil level anyway by removing the top fill plug. if its low add some.. these 4x4 gearboxes seem hard to come by. i think i was very lucky getting a replacement one.

have a look >here< to see what it should look like when you remove the plug

Thanks for the tip. That's something I tend to do pretty regularly on the 4x4 as I don't trust those old style boots to retain the oil!