Did I break the end of my driveshaft out of the flange?
 

Hi guys, I was trying to remove my rear drive shaft for a clutch install. I was having a difficult time getting the drive shaft off of the the rear differential so I hammered it towards the front of the jeep a bit to try to free it from the diff connection (now I realize there are holes for a punch to be inserted through the flange to hammer out the drive shaft). Anyways I finally got the driveshaft disconnected from the diff but now I have a question. The drive shaft has a rubber connecter at the end connecting it to the flange of the drive shaft. Is this made to be 2 separate pieces? Or did I break them apart when hammering? If I pull on the flange the rubber connector stretches out and I can feel the shaft come out of the flange. It doesn't totally come apart because the rubber connecter is still there. Is this broken or supposed to be this way? If I pull hard enough I can pull the shaft all the way out of the flange (but again it stays together because of the rubber connector).

Thanks in advance! Hope I didn't break it.

Do you have a pic ?

Attachment 513906Attachment 513907

I circled the area that I'm talking about.

I may be wrong but as long as the rubber boot is not torn then you should be fine...maybe some of the mechanically inclined folks can say definitively

Quadratec sells a rebuild kit for those joints (don't know the mfg's name). You might see if they have downloadable instructions that would show how the joint is put together, or how the boot is attached.

Good idea, thanks man

Attachment 513911
Looks like it's open, no casing to break out of. I think I'm ok.