3rd gen drive shaft spines disconnected

What a bad day

As I was working on replacing OEM rear springs with 2890s, my little brother was messing with the jack stands causing the 4runner to fall off.
As you can see in the pic, the drive shaft disconnected from the spline..

I put everything back except for the drive shaft.

I haven't disconnected the yoke yet.
I don't know if there is a specific orientation for the spline when connecting to the drive shaft?
I know I need to mark the yoke and make sure it goes back in the same orientation but not sure about the spline.

If there is a specific orientation for the spline, how would I go about doing it now? This was an accident otherwise, I would have marked it accordingly.

Please help

 

Not much you can do at this point. Just put it back together; it won't (most likely) be aligned in the same way as previously, so you *might* notice some driveline vibrations at one speed or another. If you do, you can try to self-adjust, by marking the "unbalanced" position, and then moving a few splines at a time until you find a spot that works.

Or, you can always take out the entire shaft and take it to a shop that will balance it. I'd give it a go as-is first though; my guess is that you're unlikely to notice any difference.

 

Thank you @turbodb
I will give it a try and if there are any vibrations, I will do exactly as you said by marking the unbalanced position and try a different position until I get it right.
I bought this 4runner a year ago and I am trying to restore it. I have been doing all of the work myself in the driveway. This has helped my mechanical skills tremendously and it is helping me learn so much more. Not to mention, this car boosted my confidence level through the roof for somr reason and I love it.
I appreciate the feedback and knowledge shared.

 

Update:
I took off the yoke and slid the splines in. Took for a test drive and noticed vibration between 50 and 65 mph only when 4x4 is engaged. No vibration when on 2x4.
I will mark the position and try another and see what happens

 

Opposite ends of the drive shaft should have the matching U joint appearance. The ears of the yoke that the U joint presses into on each end of the shaft would be clocked the same at each end.

 

Thanks @JohnD
I did try to match both yokes. I will look at it tomorrow morning and try another position. Hopefully that will resolve the issue

 

A wobble only in 4x4 (and not 2wd) suggests that it's not the rear drive shaft that's wobbling, so you're probably good there. The wobble you have in 4x4 is probably a different issue.

 

Could it be the rear lower and upper control arms?
I inspected them and noticed that the bushings are excessively worn out and dried up. I have never seen bushings as bad as the ones I have on now.
I am planning on changing the control arms with new ones but struggling to decide what would work well. I was thinking about the core 4x4 rear control arms and track bar
Hopefully that will resolve the issue. I do hear squeeks from back there as well

 

If you hadn't moved the vehicle after the driveshaft separated from the diff yoke, then I'd think you'd be of at most one spline one way or the other, so you got at most 3 positions to try. If you did move the vehicle, well, all bets are off, just re-attach and hope it doesn't vibrate.

Edit before post: Just read a little more that you're not feeling vibration while in 2WD, so I'd say you got it right. I've never driven my vehicle to 40-50 mph while in 4wd, so not sure if you're encountering normal vibration, but if not, you're looking at another source for the vibration when 4WD is engaged.

 

Thanks for the reply. The only reason I had on 4x4 was to test it after I changed the spline position. It certainly did not vibrate while on 2wd. I am good with where it's at now. Like you said, I highly doubt I would use the 4WD above 50mph