hey guys, I'm wondering if anyone has ever ran into trouble with their halfshaft mounting bolts not lining up with the block. I'll give a quick back story

I have a 2g with a 6 bolt block. When I bought the car it had the original "late" 2g half shaft that is supposed to bolt to the AC bracket. Since that bracket wasn't on my car, only one bolt held the bearing housing to the block.

During my recently finished build I bought a 2ga half shaft...but it was from an auto car. So I pressed the bearing housing off the auto shaft and pressed it onto my original shaft. During install the bolts were misaligned vertically with the holes in the block by about 1/2 the hole. It took some serious down pressure to get the holes to line up so I could put the bolts in.

After 100 miles on the new build my tranny is leaking from the seal at the half shaft horribly, probably from not being centered in the seal. Not only that but I drained the tranny fluid because the leak looked metallic and sure enough, there was a lot of metal in the fluid. The tranny was apart over the summer and we put new synchros in and cleaned everything really well...the metal in the fluid is fresh.

I'm also thinking the damage is being caused by the pressure on the half shaft.

So, is the 2g auto bearing housing on the half shaft different? I thought I read that all 95-96 are the same and 97+ are the same. Spline count and shaft lengths Are the difference between fwd, awd, auto, manual etc.

The brackets are different and the shaft length is longer on an automatic.

MB620417 94-96 AUTO
MR276643 97-99 AUTO

MB526981 95-99 Manual
MR276643 97-99 Manual

synthetek said:

The brackets are different and the shaft length is longer on an automatic.

MB620417 94-96 AUTO
MR276643 97-99 AUTO

MB526981 95-99 Manual
MR276643 97-99 Manual

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Thanks man. I immediately noticed the difference in length. That's why I swapped the bracket onto my shaft. Do you happen to know the difference in the brackets? I'm thinking the only difference is where they drill the mounting holes. The contour is correct, and the bearing I.D./O.D. Is the same. Looking at the bracket, it has a large machined surface compared to the size of the hole...maybe for different hole placement?

Its probably a difference in offset to where the bracket fits on shaft so it lines up with the holes.

If i ever get to this swap, you just saved me a massive headache synthetek. Have a 2ga AT awd going in a 2gb mt fwd. Looks like im gonna try and keep the donor car's halfshafts intact when i remove 'em.

synthetek said:

Its probably a difference in offset to where the bracket fits on shaft so it line up with the holes.

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It could be, but the offset as far as left/right everything lined up. The issue was up/down. the holes on the bracket are too high and the whole shaft had to be forced down to get the bolts in.


Does anyone have both an auto and manual half shaft available to check the differences in brackets? I don't want to buy another bracket and have the same issue

Does anyone have both an auto and manual half shaft available to check the differences in brackets?

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I've seen the two side by side. They're definitely different. I believe they may also differ 95-96 and 97-99, but don't quote me on that. I don't have a pic handy, but I've seen one on this forum somewhere.

Paul@RTM said:

I've seen the two side by side. They're definitely different. I believe they may also differ 95-96 and 97-99, but don't quote me on that. I don't have a pic handy, but I've seen one on this forum somewhere.

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they differ big time between 95/96 and 97+ I think that is what you have seen. The differences between the auto/manual of the same year should be very minimal if any at all.

KFred 513 said:

The differences between the auto/manual of the same year should be very minimal if any at all.

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I think the auto/manual would be the bigger difference no mater what year. I have a 99 manual and I have a spare 96 trans , when I use the 96 trans I have no problem using the 99 half shaft with it.

synthetek said:

I think the auto/manual would be the bigger difference no mater what year. I have a 99 manual and I have a spare 96 trans , when I use the 96 trans I have no problem using the 99 half shaft with it.

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I think we're miscommunicating here. All 2g manual shafts are the same, all 2g auto shafts are the same. We know that the brackets are what make the difference from 2ga-2gb, and shaft length from manual to auto.

If your using a 97+ half shaft now, you wouldn't be able to run a 95/96 half shaft without changing the way you bolt it to the block regardless of what year trans you use. You can swap trannies no problem because the 96 used the same shaft length, just a different bracket. As long as your bracket works on your setup your good.

The reason I say the difference must be minimal is because I have an early style auto bracket on my manual shaft. The bolt holes are so close to alignment that I was able to install them, but I had to use a c-clamp to force it down. At the time I didn't realize how bad of an idea that was.

Everyone I've talked to has said that they never knew manual/auto of the same generation had a different bracket. I'm assuming that is because they look almost identical but maybe hole placement is different...or maybe I am completely wrong.

I'm just going to have to order an oem 95/96 bracket from JNZ, hope it works, and post pics of the differences if any exist.

I just really want to know what is different between the Two parts you posted above.

95/96 auto
95/96 manual

What was wrong with your original shaft/bracket that came on the car?

synthetek said:

What was wrong with your original shaft/bracket that came on the car?

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The car came with the 2gb style bracket, no A/C, and only one bolt holding the bracket to the block since the one hole didn't line up at all. I wanted to correct that, and ended up in a worse situation...I did find one other thread where a guy had a verticle alignment issue, but the problem ended up being a wrongly assembled qualfie front diff.

I verified all the questions he was asked, my dowel pins were in block-trans, bell housing is flush against the block.

All years need the AC bracket or a spacer, did you try the 2gb shaft/bracket with the AC bracket?

synthetek said:

All years need the AC bracket or a spacer, did you try the 2gb shaft/bracket with the AC bracket?

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The jays racing alternator relocation kit acts as the spacer. I have not tried the 2gb shaft bracket with the A/C bracket because I don't have one. I probably should have just ordered a bracket....I could still do that. I just preferred the simpler earlier setup without extra parts to bolt on.

Just want to put this issue to rest. I got my hands on a 1g halfshaft, same part number as the 95/96 2g manual MB526981. It slid in and bolted up no problem.

So for anyone else thinking about pressing the bracket off an automatic halfshaft and pressing it onto your manual halfshaft, it will not work.

Also, if you just bought a half shaft and have a verticle misalignment issue, swap in a known good halfshaft in case someone else pressed an auto bracket onto a manual shaft. You will not be able to see a visible difference. I am attaching a picture for reference.

Castings can vary from batch to batch so even the same year car could have a casting that looks a little different from the next. The top one is the manual, and the bottom bracket is the auto.