Remove rear driveshaft- 99 xc70

[arda]

I removed my prop shaft yesterday. Mine was making clicking noise at all speeds by then. I first realized it while under the car just inspecting leaks and stuff, then i held the shaft and tried to turn it, then it was making a clicking noise. It never did on the road while moving until 2 weeks later. So get underneath your car, try to turn the shaft in the front coupling, if you hear any clicking, coupling might be coming to the ends of it life. The boot that was supposed to be in the coupling was totally gone in mine, and grease was everywhere. I had to clean out the allen bolts to be able to get the wrenches in. Its pretty straight forward job to remove the shaft. Just unbolt 6 allens at each end ( front and back) and the middle carrier, you are done. I do have a question; after removing the shaft, the mounting points at the end of the bevel gear, and the VC are exposed. Is it OK to have them exposed like that, or should they be covered?

[brick8]

Hate to revive an old post, but I was wondering if anyone has an answer to the question, is it ok to leave the mounting points at the end of the bevel gear and the VC exposed after removing the rear driveshaft? I removed the driveshaft on my 1998 V70R last weekend and now I can sometimes hear a grinding sound that seems to come from under the front of the car, approximately where the bevel gear is located. I only hear when going really slowly, but maybe the noise is drowned out by other sounds when the car goes faster.

[BEJinFbk]

You should be fine.
Sure it's not brakes?

[rmmagow]

I agree, you should be fine. Try to isolate where the noise is coming from though. I removed my shaft from a 98 with about 160K miles. I don't hear anything strange underneath. Make sure it isn't your bevel/angle gear making noise and change the fluid in the thing regardless. I wish I could tell you a way to figure out if it's the angle gear. One of the real experts hear might have some advice on that.

[ONV70XC]

Some people on the V70xc forum have removed their driveshafts. Check to make sure what the bolts take, I think they take an allen wrench rather than Torx. Here is a picture of the front coupling.

center driveshaft small.jpg

. The coupling was bad on mine but I replaced it.

mine has torx for some reason

[rmmagow]

I have had the propshaft off my 98 V70 for 20K miles. No issues have been observed other than a little torque steer. I didn't use any kind of plates or anything on the open parts. I'm putting in a Colorado shaft in a couple of weeks.

[holler1]

Hate to revive an old post, but I was wondering if anyone has an answer to the question, is it ok to leave the mounting points at the end of the bevel gear and the VC exposed after removing the rear driveshaft?

There really isn't anything open at the bevel gear and VC, just a flange and a large nut. Leaving it as is doesn't leave either the bevel gear or VC open to the elements. I'm attaching pictures of the VC end (first) and the bevel gear end. I suppose the flanges might rust a little after some time.