Once you get the boat suspended from the transom hanging straight down, it's easy to lower the drives back on with the U-joints basically just dangling straight due to gravity.

Lol funny u say that my buddies and I were saying the same thing!

Nate, did the u joints have a zerk fitting for grease? I've got a new to me boat with 2007 NXT's and I don't know if I should pull the drives to lubricate.

NXT install. There is just barely enough room to get your hand in the transom assembly to align the spline. CAREFULLY! I had both drives with water leaks. I caught it soon enough that bearings was the only failures. The new lubricants did not show any milk yet there was rust everywhere inside. These drives are NOT vented! When your running hard a little air escapes....if the boat sits in the water overnight the drive cools and a bit of water gets sucked back in. I replaced the bearings and resealed. So far no issues. The front filter in the lower I believe is a 50 or 100 hr R&R. This requires the lower be removed and disassembled. Not like a #6. However at 100 hrs its a good time to spend some $$ on labor to inspect everything. Look up the price of a gearset...yikes. Bearings alone are about $800.00

Yes the u joints do have the grease zerk fittings I think I'm going to have all the u joints replaced as well the drives have 170 hours on them so the both need to be completely gone through bearing seals etc Id rather be pro active especially since the boat is going to sit until April I want as trouble free boating as possible for next season I've thought about pulling the transmissions also.

If it's that bad straightening the u joints I would just wrap them with masking tape and install.

2 man job. Use a thin string wrapped under the shaft and continue to lift up on both ends of the string as it goes in. Other guy is pushing in.

Trim transom slightly negative (about flush with gimbal ring), and of course steer straight.
Drive height should be slightly low so the u-joint is on the bottom of the tilt housing bore. This will give enough room over the top of the u-joint for your hand.
Front u-joint turned so you can lift/tilt it up with your fingers over the top.
Move assembly in carefully and lift/tilt up the spline shaft so it will start into the tube.
Remove your hand! Push the drive in and rotate the propshaft to align the splines. You could have a little trouble if the tube shaft rotates too easy. Putting a mechanical/NXT transmission in gear will help. A little more trouble if it is a hydraulic.
The real trick is being trimmed negative, definitely not positive trim. As you push in and rotate the shaft it will help lift up on the shaft which is tipped down toward the drive. If trimmed high, pushing in will just try to push down on the shaft and won't let it slide in. Don't force it!

Did not you ever had arnesons on your formula before the nxt's?