DIY FULL B5 Audi Driveshaft Rebuild

[landfill]

This GKNLoebro 893521100
is from early 1980’s propshafts
all the way until 2005.

[okkim]

Yes use the box end. You don’t have to remove the U-joint if you use the ground down box end of a wrench. Heat up the bolt first with propane or acetylene torch and clamp the driveshaft in a vise.

All fun from there.

I have never heated the bolt, it is a bit tight since it has red loctite, but it opens.

[landfill]

^^^It’s not 100% necessary
but it’ll help burn off rust & the
loctite so it’ll come out easier.
I’ve done plenty without heat
but every little bit helps.

[armageddon-]

Anyone got some resonance after bearing replacement and/or u-joint?

I already had a slighty resonance prior replacement, but now, after bearing and u-joint it got worst, between 50-75km/h its very noticeble, it not cause vibrations but a little anoying.

I will try to deal with bearing fixing point or even a home balancing to see if can solve or mitigate it.

[Bordom]

Did the bearing have any actual grease in it?

Sent from my SM-G9600 using Tapatalk

[landfill]

Did you mark the halves before
splitting them? I know stupid question
but they’re balanced one way.

[armageddon-]

Yep, I marked all parts prior removal and install same as they were.

The only "issue" was centering the u-joint, one of the yokes was not perfectly flat, making it dificult to get a good measurement.

I will try to balance it using a hose clamp method to see if it get any better.

[sogood]

Yeahhhhh

[Silverex]

I will try to balance it using a hose clamp method to see if it get any better.

Can you briefly describe how you’d do that please?

[armageddon-]

4 wheels off ground, gain speed till speed where drone occurre ( ~50-70 km/h for me) carefully find the high spot with a pen, attach a hose clamp with the bolt on the oposite side and hopefully its solved, if not, play with the clamp location/number till then.

I think I will have time this weekend to do it, if I do not forget I will take some pics

[desertsage]

b7_Andy, thank you for taking the initiative to document and post your driveshaft rebuild. This is entire thread is valuable stuff! No problems with my B5 driveshaft as of yet but when the day comes I will be happy to have this as a reference.

[desertsage]

Thanks for taking the time to document the process. Really great!

BTW, the end CV joints are the same as Audi 5000/200 front inner CV's.

Hey rdcyclist! I am excited to find your info on the CV crossover parts here. I've been attempting to diagnose a vibration/rumbling noise on deceleration with my "96 Audi A4 B5 quattro 2.8 12v. When under the car today and grabbing the front prop shaft connection to the front differential, there is a noticeable amount of slop in that front CV joint. No movement at all at the connection to the rear differential.

Just to confirm your info here... this forward CV joint on the shaft is the same Audi 5000 front inner CV joint? Many thanks for posting that. I can't imagine finding a decent used prop shaft for my B5 these days.

[desertsage]

Hey b7_Andy! As it could have been foretold... I had made those last comments... "No problems with my B5 driveshaft as of yet but when the day comes I will be happy to have this as a reference.", back in 2020 and now I am using your writeup to rebuild my B5 draiveshaft after all, as the center bearing has given up. Very nice to have this! Thanks again.

[b7_Andy]

Hey b7_Andy! As it could have been foretold... I had made those last comments... "No problems with my B5 driveshaft as of yet but when the day comes I will be happy to have this as a reference.", back in 2020 and now I am using your writeup to rebuild my B5 draiveshaft after all, as the center bearing has given up. Very nice to have this! Thanks again.

Glad this thread could be useful… best of luck with your project!

[desertsage]

Glad this thread could be useful… best of luck with your project!

Thank you! Yes, it is very useful. I have the driveshaft on my workbench right now. I had to use my puller and a hammer and punch to get the stuck CV joints off of the ends. And Ha! I had to use hammer and chisel just to get the CVs free from the front and rear differentials. 270,000 miles now on my '97 B5, so there has been a lot of time for parts to seize together.

On a coffee break right now and searching for other ways to separate the U-joint from the shaft. I was able to remove the bolt, but like yours, mine is very much stuck on, even after many blows with a hammer, pry bar and punch. I don't have an air hammer, but I'm sure that persistence will win in the end.

[desertsage]

Just one final note... After a couple of days of soaking with PB Blaster, I was able to separate the U-joint from the shaft by slicing part of the old bearing away with a cutoff wheel to get a better angle to use with a 4 pound sledge hammer and big punch, also applying mapp gas heat for a minute or two on the exterior of the U-joint. A few big whacks later and the parts began to separate. Yay!

[wstpride92]

Reviving this thread.

I just disassembled my driveshaft to replace the center bearing and am concerned about the u joint. I feel as the u joint shouldn’t feel as stiff as it does. Here’s a video although I know you can’t feel the difference.

https://youtube.com/shorts/9sLRVbT53...B6_HLDjzLVH1Gz


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

[q20v]

That does appear to be stiffer than usual, although I haven't had my DS out in a while. I do remember replacing driveshaft CVs years ago and the new units felt excessively stiff by hand. The car vibrated as if the wheels were oval shaped. I rebuilt those new CVs using a mix of old parts to loosen them up and it made a 100% improvement.

[jjohn07]

Thanks for the write-up Andy! It's been a great help but I've ran into and issue. Hopefully someone can give me some advice.

I got the new u-joint in to the point where the caps were flush with the yoke/driveshaft and everything seemed good (the u-joint was moving freely like it should). I started to press the caps in further with a nickel and was able to get one side pressed in with no issues but when I went to press the opposite side in, it would not budge. Now the u-joint seems like it is binding and is extremely difficult to move in all directions. I tried this on the adjacent caps and got the same result. I thought the caps might have needed a little more force but I actually ended up breaking one of the plates on my 12 ton press so something isn't adding up... Not really sure what to do at this point so any help would be greatly appreciated!

[grifrowl]

I was able to find OEM GKN Universal joint PN: U 728/4 (9004100031)


I assembled to .003" runout