*sigh*  been working like a dog for weeks (18-20 hour days with a 3 hour total commute.  Got out early and went for a drive in my 68 last night with the top down, very nice night.  Until she died.

Several weeks back I felt a series of clunks and when I lifted the car I could see the rear yoke pulling out of the differential case.  I replaced it a few weeks back and all was fixed but the was seriously out of alignment, so I had it aligned and within a few miles of the alignment it died.

I lifted the car this morning and I can see the yoke pulling out again – but obviously its worse, since the gears won’t hook up. I can spin the tire on the passenger side (good side) and see the drive shaft spin in neutral, in gear I can still spin the tire – so I assume the clutch pack is gone.  The drive side (yoke pulling out) I can spin the tire and the drive shaft doesn’t spin – so are the gears shorn away?  I assume its not worth it for me to open up the differential case and I should just bring it to someone who works on C3 rears? 

I further assume that the root cause is an alignment issue – and when I had a 4 wheel alignment done it exacerbated the issue and the rear was put under nasty stress that caused all this.   Any comments, suggestions?  Should I open it up and take a peek-see or just flat bed it to a shop.  Once again….*sigh*  

But I will say, broken down on the side of the road leaning against my car 8pm last night still beats being at work 6am to 3am !

Won't hurt to make a mess on your garage floor go ahead and open it up. Can't do any more damage. maybe a nut just fell off Sorry i'm sure it's more than that.

ebo

I replaced the snap rings with new ones when I did replaced the yokes.  When the car stopped I heard nothing.  The half shaft is holding the yoke in place, its only pulling out a half inch or so.  With it in the air the tire’s weight permits it to pull out 2.5 inches, the concept of the yoke snapping off would make sense (less the noise) but to be perfectly honest, I rebuilt the engine with Vortek header, RPM airgap, thumper Comp cam and installed hooker sides with glass packs – makes it a little difficult to hear much of anything else especially with the top down.

But I can spin the tires and not hear anything.  I am going to call “The Vette Shop” in Warminster, PA and probably flat bed it over to them in order to have the rear fixed professionally.  No need for me to put the work into it twice – fixing what’s broken without fixing the cause is just asking for more headaches.  I hate beyond words not being able to do something myself, but I guess in this case I need to admit this is more than likely beyond the capabilities of my garage (yes, I place the fault with lack of machinery in my garage….not with my learning capabilities !)

If the guy aligned the car incorrectly and put too much toe, would the car track straight?  I provided him with the degree’s I got on this web site a few days back – I think someone said the 68 was the same as a 73.  If this was wrong and that cause excessive stress maybe I should open it up myself and see what it looks like.

Holiday weekend, gorgeous weather, broken car :-(