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[General] Replacing the tailshaft center beaing

Jxfwsf

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I searched for a howto on this subject and only found posts about people asking how it is done.
A quick guide if you are attempting the task of replacing the center bearing (one of the most common causes of vibration in a commodore at around 80-110km/h before and after these speeds it's usually not noticeable)

The images are of a vn/vp tail shaft but the basics are much the same for vb to vs
Tools required:

Hammer
Cold chisel
Flat blade screw driver
6mm allen key
File/Scriber
piece of 31mm internal diameter pipe approximately 90-100mm in length
Circlip pliers


Firstly you want to mark the 2 halves well so you can line them up properly when you're putting it all back together, i score them with a scribe or lightly filed marks as it won't rub off like a texta while it's all being handled, as seen in the pic below put the tailshaft on a bench or flat on the ground as straight as you can get it, use a ruler or straight edge and mark all parts at the 3 points with arrows before dismantling. You need to put this back together correctly.

1A.jpg


For vn/vp the uni joints need to be 45 degrees out with the input side leading, double check this for your model as mentioned below holden did revise this for some other models

Before splitting the shaft, hold 1 piece/end of the tailshaft and rotate the other half clockwise & anticlockwise on the opposite side of the cv joint to make sure it's solid and has no play, if it is moving (similar to backlash in the diff) you'll need to replace, it should swivel and move freely yet have no freeplay, redo this test once you have put it all back together later.

Undo all the hex bolts as shown in the first image (you may need to a hammer or a length of pipe to extend the allen key for more mechanical advantage).

01.jpg




Split the tail shaft, you may need to <b><u>gently</b></u> tap it with a hammer to get it to split, a couple of times gently (so as not to mark/damage) in the places marked in the pic a couple at red, couple at green, couple of times at blue, if it still hasn't come apart start the rotation over again... rinse & repeat till it splits.

03a.jpg


Undo and remove the boot retainer

04.jpg
05.jpg



You may wish the scribe a line on the end of the spline stub shaft and the inner part of the cv joint (mark it inline with the previous marks on the outside from step 1) before going to the next step to aid in aligning it in the correct position later as mentioned in a post below.

Remove the circlip holding the cv joint to the shaft
You may need to hold the tailshaft section in a vice using soft jaws while hitting the next couple of parts to remove.
ONLY DO IT UP TIGHT ENOUGH TO HOLD IT STILL, DO NOT CRUSH OR DAMAGE THE SHAFT SECTION IN ANY WAY.

06.jpg
07.jpg


The cv joint should slide off easily, if it's had water in it like this one you may need to use a hammer carefully to get it off the shaft, when reinstalling it a small amount of grease on the splines will help protect from further rust, this will also help to get the dust boot to slide over it easily.

Once the cv joint is off inspect the boot for holes and perishing, if it's damaged replace it otherwise grease will fling out and dirt/dust/water can get in.

Also move the cv joint around to ensure it is moving freely, has no excessive play and doesn't bind.
It's a good idea to clean the old grease out and look for wear on the balls and the guides of the cv, quite common to find ridges and pitting in worn cv joints, if any noticeable binding, pitting or abnormal wear replace the assembly.


Tap the dust cover off to expose the next circlip and remove.

Use a suitable tool to drive the bearing off the shaft carefully (use the same pattern as above red, green, blue to apply force), do not damage the dust slinger welded to the shaft.

I used a cold chisel and a hammer which does move around so you need to make sure you hit it square on, this will destroy the center bearing, you should only be removing this if you need to replace it, next remove the last dust cover.

08.jpg
09.jpg
10.jpg


Now install the new dust cover & bearing, i used a piece of pipe that fit over the shaft and drove the bearing on using a hammer putting force on the inner part of the bearing, putting pressure on any other part of the bearing will damage it.

11.jpg


The rest is in reverse order of disassembly.

When installing the final dust cup, it should be a firm fit on the tailshaft and not pressed hard against the bearing, leave a small gap so the bearing turns freely without rubbing on the shield.

Clean all the old grease out of the threads of the CV joint and off the hex bolts, apply loctite to the bolts to make sure it doesn't come apart, do it up in a star pattern making sure it pulls together evenly, don't just tighten 1 bolt up really tight and move onto the next, do it in 2-3 stages to ensure even pressure is applied.

eg
stage 1: 1 3 5 2 4 6
stage 2: 1 3 5 2 4 6
final stage same order but final tension


Once all back together hold 1 piece/end of the tailshaft and rotate the other half on the opposite side of the cv joint to make sure it has no play as done before it was dismantled.

If you require repacking the cv joint with new grease and it looks anything like the pics above you will...
<b>Keep it together</b>, degrease, flush it and clean all the old grease out before putting new grease in.

It's a pain to put it all together if you split it all apart and have the ball bearing's separate.
I'm not covering this in the guide, you'll have to experiment putting it all together if you went that far.

Hint: put all the bearings in except 2 next to each other and install those 2 last

It will go together 2 ways.

1 it will work correctly and center will swivel/move around to the outside. (refer to image 06.jpg above as to how it should look, the ring facing out and the smaller edges of the inner piece line up with the larger gap on the outer)

2 which is wrong it will lock together and the center won't move


When refitting the center bearing guide/plate (bolts to the body) if you look on the underside (may need to to remove the dirt and buildup) It will have F stamped into it and an arrow, meaning the arrow needs to face the input side of the shaft assembly (The yoke for the gearbox)

The bracket that holds the center bearing can go on 2 ways on earlier models it simply has a arrow with the F marked (as you have mentioned), for the later models it is marked slightly different. On one side it it marked IRS with a arrow, if the car is fitted with IRS suspension then it faces the front, otherwise it goes on the normal way which I believe is marked as solid with a arrow.
 
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Jxfwsf

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While your working on the tailshaft it might pay to check the uni's aswell
if they resemble below, old and missing dust boots it's time to do something about it.
here's how to do them all with a flat screwdriver, a hammer and a vice.

u01.jpg


Firstly remove the four retaining clips holding the cups in place carefully with a screw driver, don't really want to be stabbing yourself.
If they're jammed in and won't budge you may need to tap the cup inwards to relieve the pressure as shown.

u02.jpg

u03.jpg

u04.jpg



it's an idea to spray some crc/wd40/inox etc to penetrate in and aid in removal then follow through with hitting it with a hammer in the spots as shown below

u05.jpg

u06.jpg

u07.jpg

u08.jpg



so with minimal tools this can be accomplished, next it's time to put the new uni's in
don't use a hammer to drive the new cups in as this can dislodge the needle rollers and cause lots of problems.

firstly insert the + section
now place the cups in position
if you don't have the proper tools like a press i've found a vice will do the job nicely.

once in the vice do it up and make sure they're going in perfect and not angled
if it's taking alot of pressure doing up the vice (which it shouldn't) if they're going in square and straight you may need to give the jaws a gentle tap with the hammer to move them, don't do it up with as much pressure as possible and try this or you'll most likely break the vice.

rinse and repeat 4 times

u09.jpg

u10.jpg

once the cups are in place make sure the circlips are seated correctly and give each part of the tailshaft, yoke etc next to the cups a quick tap with the hammer and make sure they all articulate freely.
 
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Krisp

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man i hate doing these
 

Jxfwsf

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the greasy messy part or just the pain that some of them are? half the reason for the guide, shows you the easiest way i've found to do it
 

Krisp

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just the pain of it, might want to mention that since its apart to check wear on the balls and the guides of the cv, quite common to find ridges and pitting on the balls.
 

Jxfwsf

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np i'll add that in, generally i've found you can feel that when moving it around once it's off but thanks for the added description
 

Immortality

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I'd suggest that you also mark the position of the C.V on the splide stub shaft as it's very easy to put it back one spline out.

The drive shafts are basically the same from VB to VS (with the obvious variations in length to suit the various models/gearbox configurations).

Holden also changed some of the drive shaft phasing between the front and rear half shafts which is why it pays to mark the C.V on the spline shaft (not all drive shafts have the uni's exactly 45 degrees out of phase).

The bracket that holds the center bearing can go on 2 ways on earlier models it simply has a arrow with the F marked (as you have mentioned), for the later models it is marked slightly different. On one side it it marked IRS with a arrow, if the car is fitted with IRS suspension then it faces the front, otherwise it goes on the normal way which I believe is marked as solid with a arrow.

I also highly recommend you use some sort of loctite on the 6 cap screws that hold the 2 halves of the drive shaft together as it came from the factory like that.

Cheers
 

Jxfwsf

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thanks for the feed back, will updated first photos to show the marking procedure used for lining the 2 halves together better.

info about loctite and cleaning the threads of all grease was there, have edited it to make it stand out more so it's not missed as it's quite important.
 
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STL17

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Im stuck i cant get the center bearing off and its pissing me off how do i get it off? Iv try'd everything
Im upto the stage of fulling the bearing off the shaft and fitting the new one
 

Jxfwsf

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use a metal drift or something to put against the bearing close to the shaft and belt it with a hammer so the force makes it go towards the splines, never had one stuck so bad a few hits wouldn't move it.
 
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