Shade-Tree U-Joint Replacement

[CaliDude76]

Thought I was having problems with my u-joints, but turns out, it was a combination of a few things. My driver side rear brake shoe mechanisms were out of adjustment, and that's what was making some of the weird clunking noise. Adjusted them, and some of the noise stopped.

I did notice though, that the tranny did start whining in 1st gear, but stops after it shifts. It does have 500K on it.. so what do I expect for an old girl..LOL But she still shifts strong, and rolls smooth.

I did start at the u-joints though, (per popular opinion, and hadn't been replaced in years), and me and my dad tackled it, the way we do it best.. from the garage at home with the tools we got.

So I figured I'd share it with you all, if any are interested, if not, I still had fun doing it with my pops....

Truck on ramp for starters

drive shaft pulled out

my leaky rear, checked the gear oil, and it was at a good level

cleaning up the gunk, to remove the snap rings. These are a second set from the original, which were pressed in, and sealed from the factory, and are a pain to remove from what I hear.

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[CaliDude76]

ok... thought the pictures would come out bigger than that? after I resized them. What am i doing wrong here?

 

[crazy4offroad]

While composing the post, the list of attachments is below the post. You have to click each one and paste the URL in IMG tags.

 

[CaliDude76]

more..

The point is where the factory had poured that hard plastic, to seal the original u-joints, that have to be pressed out to break the seal.

Put my dad's little vise to work today.. it did good

removing the snap-rings

Using the old school method, and punching out the old u-joint with an old socket.

 

[crazy4offroad]

more..

The point is where the factory had poured that hard plastic, to seal the original u-joints, that have to be pressed out to break the seal.

I've seen this on front double cardan joints, I used a drill bit to drill it out, then a propane torch on the yoke (not the joint) to get it apart.

 

[CaliDude76]

more..

punching it out

you can see how we used a socket bigger than the seal on bottom to hold it firm, and one a little smaller to punch it down, and break it lose..

and.. VOILA!! they're out. pretty much same procedure for front and rear u-joints.

old ones

cleaning the old gunk off

 

[CaliDude76]

more pix...

just cleaning up the drive shaft yokes

now this is funny, went to jump in my dad's lil Honda,(a.k.a. "Blue Hornet"), to chase some new parts, went to start it up, and NUTTIN!.. he left his lights on, and killed the battery..
That's a fine how do you do!!! LOL

got the new ones... after FINALLY getting the Hornet going...

 

[CaliDude76]

last steps..

just the opposite of removal..... press em back in

 

[CaliDude76]

last ones

slapped it back in

we greased the front u-joints, but the rear one, didn't give us enough space for the grease gun head we had. So my dad had one of these little needles that allowed us to get in there and push into the zerk, and grease it, very handy

you can see how it couldn't fit.

did the trick..



And there you have it.... new U-Joints

 

[crazy4offroad]

One thing to note is the position of the zerk fitting. I cant tell for sure but yours seems to be in the middle of the web, instead of angled more towards one side or another. If the fitting was offset, when setting up your joints to press them in make sure the zerk fitting is pointing in a direction that will make them easy to grease once in the truck. In other words, the rear most u-joint, you don't want the zerk pointing more towards the transmission, it will make it hard to get the grease gun on it. Good job, 'Dude!

 

[CaliDude76]

One thing to note is the position of the zerk fitting. I cant tell for sure but yours seems to be in the middle of the web, instead of angled more towards one side or another. If the fitting was offset, when setting up your joints to press them in make sure the zerk fitting is pointing in a direction that will make them easy to grease once in the truck. In other words, the rear most u-joint, you don't want the zerk pointing more towards the transmission, it will make it hard to get the grease gun on it. Good job, 'Dude!

Duly noted! Thanks!

 

[wagonman]

Nice Job Calidude.Yes sir heat is needed to melt the plastic.When doing the reasembly I use a small barrel roll flapper abrasive wheel on a die grinder to clean everything up,a little lube and the ujoint caps will go in with a small ballpeen hammer.We do this @ the shop especially on the dodge frt diff axle ujoints,they can be a real PITA if not cleaned up real good..PS hows that carb doing? Oh yeah good advice on clocking the zerk fitting for lubing..

 

[CaliDude76]

Nice Job Calidude.Yes sir heat is needed to melt the plastic.When doing the reasembly I use a small barrel roll flapper abrasive wheel on a die grinder to clean everything up,a little lube and the ujoint caps will go in with a small ballpeen hammer.We do this @ the shop especially on the dodge frt diff axle ujoints,they can be a real PITA if not cleaned up real good..PS hows that carb doing? Oh yeah good advice on clocking the zerk fitting for lubing..

Hey wagonman... the good news is: the carb is running strong, but the bad news is: I can't move anywhere.. the transmission WAS the problem. It cunked out on me a few hours after I replaced my u-joints. Bummer huh?

I'm gonna look into it tomorrow.. I know the fluid was a bit low, but ran out of daylight.. so gonna fiddle with it tomorrow. But don't think that's the problem.. but then again.. who knows..

At least I have good u-joints!

 

[89Suburban]

Great write up and pics man.

 

[Old77]

nice write up.... I remember doing this exact same thing (with the sockets and everything) when working on my truck We did it while we had the motor and tranny out of it and figured why not if everything else is out