How in the name of all that is Holy do you get this drive shaft off??????????????????

[jeff1216]

I need to replace my clutch (78 280z)

I ofcourse need to drop my drive shaft first...........At the rear differential there is absolutly no way in hell I can get a wrench or socket on any of the 4 nuts ......what is the secret???? My bleeding knuckles really want to know.

The nuts are aiming toward the rear of the car and there is just no room to work.....It seems that they would be positioned forward to be able to get a wrench on the darn thing.

[Zs-ondabrain]

I've never heard of or personally had a problem with the drive shaft nuts and bolts not coming off.

do you have a digital cam that you can get under there?

cause I'm not understanding why they would not come off. Have you shot it with WD/40? smacked it w/ a hammer?

Is the exhaust in the way? Details are the name of the game.

If you got 'em, share 'em.

They should be 12MM nuts with lockwashers.

get back to us.

[jeff1216]

they are 12mm...............The way that they are positioned I cant even get a wrench on the nut.

The front portion has the D headed stud with the nut on the rear........The rear is what I can get to :dead:

[Dtsnlvrs]

You have to use an open ended wrench, that is the only way

[Zs-ondabrain]

how is the car in the air (ie;) are the rear tires in a position for you to spin them,

and get the nuts into a better position for you to get a rench on them

I am familiar with the d-bolts but have not had a prob reaching the nuts w/ a wrench

[2ManyZs]

If the nuts are on the backside of the diff flange and not inside the driveshaft yoke that ought to be easier than the nuts being on the inside of the U-joint yoke. The studs should be in the diff flange and not the drive shaft if I remember right.

Only way I've ever been able to get the nuts off is with an open end wrench about a 1/4 turn at a time until they loosen enough to get them off with your fingers.

If the nuts are on the inside of the U-joint cavity, turn the driveshaft so the bolt is at the 6 o'clock position and do one at a time. That opens up the cavity as far as it's gonna get.

Oh the most important thing, don't use a cheap open end wrench or you're gonna round them off.

[Zs-ondabrain]

And if you use an open end wrench make sure that it is damn tight before you start turning or bloody nuckles are going to be the least of your problems

if there is room for a small vice-grip, use it.

[Zedrally]

Back in'79 I was faced with exactly the same problem.

After much head scratching I rang the Service department of the largest Nissan dealer I could find and asked whether there was a special tool for this.

There reply was to use a ring spanner, this I had tried but was unable to get the head over the nut. [sidchrome has a good 45degree bend and will not reach].

When asked how they managed it they replied that they used a Stahl Willy [not sure if the willy is spelled correct].

So off I went and brought one, which I still have to this day, reserved especially for uses in which a very slender ring spenner is required.

It has the slightest bend which is all that is required for easy dismantling of the T/S.

Oh and no bloody knuckles from using this......

HIH

[gramercyjam]

Your right. There is no room to work. Every time I do it I wonder how I did it the last time cause it seems impossible. Take a couple of shots of burbon, relax and try again. you will figure it out.

[Victor Laury]

And I thought I was the only one! I dropped the diff mount crossmember.

[2ManyZs]

A "half moon" box end probably would work pretty well... might be a better idea than using a cheap box end and end up with rounded off nuts....

Hmm, too bad all my half moon box ends aren't metric... guess I'll go look on the Craftsman site and see if I can find one..

[LanceM]

Just did a 5-speed swap today and got mine off no problem using a standard Craftsman combination wrench, box end to break them loose, open end to take them off. This was on a 240, is a 280 different?