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Re: Dropping Drive Shaft on 735i, 1985. (archive)
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Posted by Greg on December 08, 2001 at 17:08:05:

In Reply to: Re: Dropping Drive Shaft on 735i, 1985. posted by ...tom on December 08, 2001 at 15:34:48:

Hi, Tom. Thanks. What you've told me is part of what I needed to know; that is, the bolts on the U-Joints are probably self-tightening and VERY hard to get off. However, I can't get my impact wrench or breaker bar in. The only thing I can get in is my 17mm closed or open ended wrenches. I will have to locate a piece of pipe to try to lever it off I'm afraid. I've got them drenched in solvent so maybe that will help. Thanks for the advice on car stability! Any other comments are welcome.


i've been able to get my impact gun up to the bolts going to the trans, but not the bolts to the diff. failing that, i've used my 18" breaker bar positioned on the bolt then reversed myself and used my leg to break the bolt loose. once loose you have to use a second wrench on the nut to keep it from spinning as you remove the bolts. on the rear i put the car in neutral and use a screwdriver to prevent the shaft from spinning. CAUTION, using your leg exerts a lot more force than you arms are capable of so be sure the car is securely on jack stands. i always try to push the car off the stands when i set it up.

...tom


Hi, all! Well, the Exhaust system is out, the Drive shaft is exposed, the old Center bearing is virtually destroyed, but I can't get get the bolts off the U-joints that attach to the flanges at the Transmission and the differential so I can't drop the shaft to replace the Center Bearing.
1. I have used bolt loosening solvent. (Result; won't loosen up.)
2. I have used what I consider to be extreme effort with no loosening.
3. I am going to buy a pipe to fit the BMW wrench recommended for this so I can get some more leverage but I'm beginning to wonder if I'm missing something. (I can't get an impact wrench up there either.(Chilton's is very vague again).
3. I can only get at one nut at at time on the U-joints so assuming I can get them off, I will have to put car in neutral, rotate drive shaft, and put in park again for each nut. Does this sound right?

It's up on stands now. Help is appreciated.





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