Sierra (bolt-on) driveshafts positioning
 

Yesterday i concluded the refurbishment of my Sierra driveshafts and CV joints.
A good clean and powdercoating and they look as new.
The problem is that when i bought my Sierra diff and driveshafts, thise were dissasembled, i mean the diff had not the driveshafts bolted on but seperate.
As you can see in the pics below, one face of the shaft has a "star" stamped on it while the other has a number of circular marks. The question is which face goes to diff side and which goes to hub side? i remember reading somewhere that if you install them the wrong way around, they tend to break! :o
I have ordered a Sierra Haynes manual but if you could help me until it arrives, it goes well.
Any help greatly appreciated! Thanks!









[Edited on 7/1/12 by DRCorsa]

Never noticed, just put them on whichever way came to hand.

TT

You cannot actually put them either way around. If you put them wrongly, you will most probably end up with a pair of less strong driveshafts.

In case anyone has the same problem in the future, please note that the star end goes towards the wheel end. That was from a lb member who just removed his driveshafts.

I would hazard a guess that the star mark on the end of that shaft is from production, the spline tool would have to rotate that shaft without slipping while it cut the spine. As to which way round it makes for good practice to install drive shafts in the same rotation as they came off so as not to cause fatigue in the material. From new it would make no difference and I dont think I would lose any sleep if they swapped rotation in a car that weighed the same as a bag of sugar. 44ton truck maybe:)

Bob

I have just finished refurbing mine and the one shaft is not yet bolted on.... I'll check when I get home to see what orientation it is

Rapid

Just an observation,and possibly of no consequence,there are ramps in the housing where the bearings fit to make assembly easier and would possibly lead to failure if fitted in the wrong direction and I would have thought that the torque would push the balls into the slot.

Look at the first picture and they a very clear.

Thats is the right info, a pulled two sets apart and that mark was on the hub end on all of them.

Bob

I don't agree with the theory of ratational stress.
The right hand shaft rotates clockwise, the left anti clockwise, to agree the star mark theory one would have to be at the hub, one at the diff.
Lobro joints are not handed when you buy them and not marked left or right, therfore it does not matter which way round they are.

Left and right driveshafts are different length anyway, so you cannot mix them up that way. The only mistake one could do is to put the left (or right) driveshaft with the star at the diff end. This will change the stress direction.

Just an observation on the rotational nature of the joint.;)