Reply to "Axle repair question"

The mysterious orientation is simply that the crosses in both u-joints of a halfshaft assembly must be exactly parallel; has to do with the dynamics of how Hooke-type u-joints function. Additionally, some half-shafts were dynamically balenced by adding a welded weight to the light spot, so these must be reassembled the same. So when you pull the slip-joints apart, I suggest you add an indelible mark, scratch or stamp to both halves of the splined slip-joints as they separate, so the two halves can be reassembled on the same splines.