904 tailshaft removal in car

I need to change the tailshaft bushing in my 904. Will the tailshaft come off in an a body without removing the trans? I can't think of any other way to get the bushing out in the car.

I put a fresh one in before drag week last year and it was smoked by the end of the week, has some play in it and leaking. What would cause that? Drivetrain runs nice and smooth. I do have a heavy 3.5" steel driveshaft. I did learn I can clock the bushing differently and get pressurized oil to it vs splash oiling so I will be doing that.

Thanks

it will come off


pull drive saft

remove trans mount , speedo gear

,

remove housing

. You left out 2 steps, remove 2 screws that hide snap ring, use snap rings pliers to open snap ring, pull housing.

I got a bushing remover tool and an installer tool off of Amazon or E-Bay. You can do the bushing without removing the housing. It takes the same tools as a C-4 Ford. I don't remember the toold being very expensive.

Piston ring expender works well for the tail shaft bearing snap ring.

That's good to hear. (Takes same tool as a C4)
I just got a set of bushing drivers from eBay for the 727/518 tranny's, was pretty cheap. I think the front pump bushing is the same as a TH350 or 400 as well

Before removing the housing, placed the shifter in Park and rotate the driveshaft until you hear the parking pawl engage. Makes the park rod (if equipped) slide out of the housing easier.

Great news, thanks for the replies. I will look for that bushing puller first, if I can't find one I will just pull the housing. Just working out of a two car garage I have to setup differently for a small job vs a transmission pull.

Honestly this is probably the most important part of the whole job. You'll thank yourself if you do this part!

If you don't, you'll likely end up needing to take the pan off and valve body out when you go to re-install everything if you forget this step.

I had to take my engine mounts loose, header collector bolts out & remove the trans mount crossmember in order to lower the back of transmission to allow the housing to clear the torsion crossmember above the housing so the engine/transmission as a whole had to tilt down at the back for it to slide off, in my ‘67 Barracuda.

Tool

$91 for the pair on the Bag.

Have you thought about switching to a 4 speed, and getting rid of that maintenance problem child? Probably make your life less stressful.

Yeah this little trans is terrible. All stock internal parts and it has needed 2 extension housing bushings after 3 drag weeks. Total junk!

What about that time it leaked like the Exxon Valdez, backing into a car show? That’s double embarrassment.

HI

tell me how you are going to get pressurized oil to rear bushing by clocking it diff .

no pressure in the area of that bushing ! splash only !

Correct

There is a correct orientation though. You can't just throw them in there.

Clark this ^^^ , there is no pressurized fluid circuit past the govenor, where did you find that info ?

If you are taking out the bushing check to make sure balance of the shaft is good , pinon angle is good and check the bearing in the tailhousing that the mainshft of the trans rides in is not loose

Ok I went back to my email about that. It was not pressurized oiling, but it was suggested I clock the bushing hole at 4 o'clock instead of 12 o'clock because there is another oil hole at that location that might deliver more splash oiling.

That was a fun time, that whole leak chasing scenario was due to a leaky torque converter weld. I was mad enough over that whole deal I almost wanted to put a different transmission in there lol!

The only source of oiling is the top hole which is fed by a capillary effect, the passage on the side is to drain fluid that gets trapped in front of the seal.

Off topic slightly, can you put a roller bearing in place of the bushing?

It's been discussed before, common consensus is the slip yoke hardness isn't compatible with a roller bearing.

I have a hardened Yoke but I don't get a good feeling about those little rollers and street use.

So I got the tool, got the bushing and set out to do this task today. I am sure the tool would work great. However my issue was that the extension housing bushing went inside the transmission so there was no bushing at all locating things. So I ended up removing the tailshaft anyways and that wasn't a bad job at all.

I have no idea what would have caused the old bushing to walk forward into the trans. It didn't spin and it looked just fine.

Thanks for that link, the tool looks great and I am sure it would have worked perfect had the bushing actually been where it belongs.

I would be green loctiting the replacement in , it shouldn't have walked.

You're welcome

The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't have any and situated the car in a way I could not close the garage up and leave. 2 car garage wrenching problems.