Center Joint Rubber Donut

[technos]

Had my 72 GT out last night for it's first real drive after a month of downtime.. Had the rear drive shaft slide loose of the rear axle, and come sticking outside of the tube and clear of the center support by several inches.

Take the sucker apart today, and it appears that the rubber donut around the bearing is fully an inch in diameter too small to fit in the support, and it's no wonder why the sucker kept sliding apart.

Am I missing something? Was this a multipart donut and I just never noticed? And where the heck did the rest of it go to? *grin*

[technos]

Just got my hands on another (albeit ruined) donut and sure as heck it is two layers of rubber. Guess my outer layer dryrotted while it sat..

No biggie, was able to replace it same day with a home-concoction.. It's a wonder what a quick browse through a well stocked heavy machinery shop will yield you. In my case, it was a donut that they normally use around the drive for operating an external pump on a 1950's fire engine and three minutes with a grinder and rasp.. Only minor mods, will try to drum up a part number if y'all like (Although I think it will be harder to get locally than the real part would be anyway)

Jim