1960 drive shaft alignment will not rotate with body off

[Daniel S.]

Hi

I was going to put the drive shaft in before i put the body on the frame for door alignment etc for sanding and painting. I inserted the drive shaft into the transmission and tried to rotate the driveshaft 360 degrees before attaching it to the rear and it will not rotate all the way around? There is a drop in the drive shaft from the transmission to the rear is this not rotating all the way because the body is not on and there has to be more weight to better align the driveshaft and the rear?

Thanks for your help.x

Dan

[Edward J.]

Re: 1960 drive shaft alignment will not rotate with body off

Dan, like you say the weight without the body on is causing the angle on driveshaft to bind up.If you have a couple of guys to sit on the rear of frame you could likely rotate the shaft.

[Daniel S.]

Re: 1960 drive shaft alignment will not rotate with body off

I guess it is best to wait until I put the body on because if I do attached it now with putting weight on the frame it will not allow me to move the frame around without the body because it will bind up right?

Thanks

[Richard M.]

Re: 1960 drive shaft alignment will not rotate with body off

Dan,

On some I've done I put 2 ratchet straps around the axle to upper frame crossmember.

Rich

[Daniel S.]

Re: 1960 drive shaft alignment will not rotate with body off

Dan,

On some I've done I put 2 ratchet straps around the axle to upper frame crossmember.

Rich

Hi Rich,

if I took the ratchet straps off and the body was still not on could I still move the frame around or would it bind up?

I do plan on putting ratchet straps on to put on the rebound straps before the body.

Thanks for the reply
Dan

[Richard M.]

Re: 1960 drive shaft alignment will not rotate with body off

Dan, Probably.

Another temporary solution would be to add spacer washers at the rear trans mount 4 bolts where it attaches to the frame to reduce the angle. May need longer bolts. Just do loosely one at a time.

After the body is on remove the washers.

Rich

[Daniel S.]

[Mike M.]

Re: 1960 drive shaft alignment will not rotate with body off

if you install the rebound straps now, the driveshaft won't interfere with frame. simply ratchet strap the frame to rear axle housing, install rebound straps and that'll do it. i'd definitely install the rebound straps before dropping the body to maximize room to work with the rebound straps. mike mccagh

[Daniel S.]