Installing a Drive Shaft to the Transmission

Video Transcript

"In this clip, we're going to talk about the proper service procedure for removing and replacing a rear axle U-Joint on a Ford Explorer. In this step, we're going to talk about re-installation of our drive shaft into the back of the transmission and onto the pinion flange. As you can see, there's one spline in here that's twice the size of all the other ones. That's called a Key Way Spline. That matches up with the output shaft of the transmission. This drive shaft goes on, only one way. We're going to want to make sure to line that spline up before you put this back into the transmission. I'm going to duck underneath the vehicle now and install my drive shaft. I'm going to go ahead and slide the drive shaft into the back of the transmission. Slide it all the way forward, you're going to need that room when you lift the rear portion up and slide it where it goes. As you can see, my pinion flange has moved out of alignment with my index mark on the yoke. What I'm going to do is roll that down until there lined up. You can see the index mark on my drive shaft here is going to indicate the proper alignment for my drive shaft. You're going to slide it into place like so, you may have to turn it a few degrees to get the very proper alignment. Right there. That is the proper way to reinstall your drive shaft the vehicle."