I'm trying to remove the front driveshaft on my 2001 XJ. According to my workshop manual, after removing the front and rear straps/bolts, the driveshaft should simply "fall out". However, on mine the shaft is firmly jammed in, with no play at all allowing it to be lifted out of the yolk(s). Do you have to sort of lever it out, or what? Thanks for any advice!

A lil tap tap tappaaarrooo with the hammer tool is sometimes needed. Nothing extreme, just some tapping and wigglin'.

Thanks a lot! In the meantime it was explained to me that the driveshaft itself is able to compress a little, which will allow that bit of play.

Exactly.

X2 sometimes the road gunk acts like glue on the drive shaft slip yolk and the u-joints. A little tap or two should free it up nicely!

Thanks for the tip.