Just like the title says, I was crawling under the truck today pondering another problem so I grabbed the drive shaft and gave it a tug. I seemed a little loose. After closer inspection I noticed the retaining nut on the back of the NP 205 was loose. I dropped the shaft out and torqued it to 130 foot/pounds. This eliminated the slop. Time will tell if it is fixed or not. I don't know this trucks history, but I do know I havent been that far into the Tcase since I owned it. The yoke retaining nut on the Dana 70 was still tight.

 

Didn't the yoke on your D70 loosen up a few months ago?

 

Not guilty. I had some lube puke out of the pinion seal when it got hot, and I had a clogged vent line that I fixed over a year ago. I think a PO may have gone into the Tcase and didn't torque it. It only ran down about three flats when it tightened up. I have been towing hard here lately. Not any great distance like Allentown but once a week and usually in a hurry. The fish don't wait.
I just posted this so other guys would check there stuff instead of just shooting grease into the ujoint like I had been.

 

Yoke nuts backing off, on both ends of the shaft, are a common problem, regardless of vehicle make, be it Ford, Chevy, Dodge, or whatever.

Most don't catch it until too late, as everything is fine, right up until the second that the drive-shaft kicks out, taking fuel-tanks, bell-housings, brakelines, etc., in the process.


Once the nut is re-tightened, take a sharp punch and sort of peen the inside edge of the nut into the threads, just enough to keep the nut from loosening, but not so much that a big wrench can't back it off.


I had one come off, going at speed, with a gooseneck-load of cattle.

The yoke, driveshaft, and nut, all survived the crash, but the bell-housing didn't.


I can't explain the fits that truck had, before I brought it under control and got landed on the shoulder.


The nut was still trapped inside, between the U-joint and yoke.

 

I've had to tighten that nut on this truck once and on two different toyota 4x4s, both used pretty hard.