U-joint replacement problem

Okay... so i just bought 2 replacement u-joints because the needle bearings in one of the joints are gone!

anyway, i was told it is a fairly simple operation. And it should be.... untill i got the spicer clips out... took a socket to one end and started hammering.. Nothing.

So i went to the next step. i went to a place where a vice was available for me to use.. placed an oversized socket on one end and a small socket on the other... and put everything i got into it... didnt budge..

am i doing something wrong? or is it possible that these could be the original U-joints and 231,xxx miles has taken its toll on bonding these things together?

Get a bigger hammer - they are pressed in tight. They will come out.

I don't think that vice trick will work the way you are doing it. As I see it in my head, you would be pushing one cap out, in the right direction, but the OTHER cap, you would only be pushing further into the yoke. Not gonna work.

I just did the all of the u-joints on mine a few weeks ago. At least one of my front ones had no needles either.

You can't hammer on the caps man. You gotta hammer on the yoke. The OTHER yoke. So that it pushes the center section of the u-joint itself down and onto a cap, pushing it out. Then flip it over and do the same on the other end, but this time you CAN use a deep socket, sliding it into the hole that the cap used to be in and over the center section bar.

Put the cap you want to remove facing downwards and hammer on the OTHER yoke ears, the ones on the right and left side, you know what I mean?

Pound the crap out of it and that should pop out the second cap.

To get out cap number three, I had the best luck by putting another deep socket over one of the exposed center section shafts (much like you did to get the second one out, but rotate the whole assembly ninety degrees, so that you are using the center section to PUSH out the cap) and again beating the ever loving crap out of it.

On to number four. Rotate it so that the fourth cap is down, put the deep socket through the now vacant yoke hole and beat it with the hammer.

Ta-Da! Done and done. Don't hit your thumb.

I could be wrong though, that vice trick MAY work. It may very well have worked for other folks in the past. To the best of my knowledge though, the holes where the caps go are slightly tapered, making it impossible to push a cap THROUGH it.

Unless I misread the post explaining what you were doing.

okay.... so ill take your advice... but instead of hammering the shit outta it... maybe put the vice on the yoke/joint and press it slightly out just to get it moving.. and i can tap it out the rest of the way causing minimal damage?

Definitely give that a whirl man!

The OLD u-joint you don't need to worry about damaging. Just the yokes and even then, they are pretty damn tough.

The vice works really well for putting the NEW caps in though! Just TRY to make sure none of the needle bearings fall over and "lay down" in the bottom of the cap. If they do, the u-joint just won't fit. At all. Then you gotta hammer it out again, put the needles back to where they should be, use some thick grease to hold them in place... It's a pain. Ask me how I know.

Not a bad idea to run some emery cloth or whatever kinda sandpaper you have lying around to just clean up the inside of the cap holes a bit before you throw in the new ones. Don't take off any metal, just whatever rust or scale may be there.

jesterbomb said:

Definitely give that a whirl man!

The OLD u-joint you don't need to worry about damaging. Just the yokes and even then, they are pretty damn tough.

The vice works really well for putting the NEW caps in though! Just TRY to make sure none of the needle bearings fall over and "lay down" in the bottom of the cap. If they do, the u-joint just won't fit. At all. Then you gotta hammer it out again, put the needles back to where they should be, use some thick grease to hold them in place... It's a pain. Ask me how I know.

Not a bad idea to run some emery cloth or whatever kinda sandpaper you have lying around to just clean up the inside of the cap holes a bit before you throw in the new ones. Don't take off any metal, just whatever rust or scale may be there.

Click to expand...

how do you know? jk... the ones i bought from oreilly are their top dollar ones.. and they were decently packed. they have a lifetime warranty on them.

Make sure you have both C-clips out, you can press them all the way through. I typically put a good bit of pressure on the end cap using a vice and some sockets. Double check the sockets you are using, sometimes they appear small and large enough but aren't. Then whack the yoke with a hammer just to jar things. Spraying everything down with a good penetrating oil may help, it may not, but why not?
You can bend the yoke trying to press the caps out. Best to know when to stop and try something else. I measure the gap in the yoke, before I start, a venier caliper or a good ruler. If it is bent I want to know before trying to put the new U-joint in.
I've actually notched a cross in the middle of the cap and broken the top of the cap away, Removed the "X" part of the U-joint (and whatever needle bearings are left) and used a pointed punch to break the walls of the cap out of the yoke. Then cleaned up any nicks and scratches with a round file (it doesn't have to be perfect).

8Mud said:

Make sure you have both C-clips out, you can press them all the way through.

Click to expand...

See? Apparently the caps AREN'T tapered. I just learned something.

8Mud said:

Then whack the yoke with a hammer just to jar things. Spraying everything down with a good penetrating oil may help, it may not, but why not?

Click to expand...

Good call and Amen!

8Mud said:

I measure the gap in the yoke, before I start, a venier caliper or a good ruler. If it is bent I want to know before trying to put the new U-joint in.

Click to expand...

Good idea! I never even thought of measuring them. The next time Ihave to do this, (Theoretically not soon...) I will definitely do that. Measurement tools are worth WAY more than the price you pay for them.

8Mud said:

I've actually notched a cross in the middle of the cap and broken the top of the cap away, Removed the "X" part of the U-joint (and whatever needle bearings are left) and used a pointed punch to break the walls of the cap out of the yoke. Then cleaned up any nicks and scratches with a round file (it doesn't have to be perfect).

Click to expand...

I imagine that was a last ditch kinda thing though right? The caps were totally seized in there? Never heard of doing that, but hey, whatever works!

jesterbomb said:

I imagine that was a last ditch kinda thing though right? The caps were totally seized in there? Never heard of doing that, but hey, whatever works!

Click to expand...

My vice is really old, almost indestructible, I've been using it as an anvil for over thirty years, the real McCoy. I thought stopping and trying something else to remove a U-joint before the vice exploded, on one occasion, might be prudent. Sometimes those U-joint caps are really stuck in there.

The next time you have an old cap handy, use a small socket (smaller than the inside diameter of the cap). Put the cap and socket in a vice and see how much pressure it takes to break through the top of the cap. Not really all that much. If you notch (angle grinder, Dremel, whatever) an "X" in the top of the cap, it breaks even easier. Then I used a three corner file to notch the cap wall and cracked that with a pointed punch.
Pretty much the same thing with bearing races. They are hard but brittle, they often shatter before they bend much.

I am going to try that cap busting thing tomorrow morning before work if I get a moment in between swapping my rear springs. Not because I doubt you 8mud, but because now I have to know myself!

Bench vises. That is one of those tools that young guys like me really have to keep a sharp eye out for at garage sales and auctions and the like. The new ones... I just haven't been able to find one that will stand up to even moderate use. The older ones would be an actual USEFUL family heirloom, but I'm not in line to get one. Ah well.

Hope it's going well for you there Djmcak. Didn't mean to HiJack the thread, but just as you're learning while doing the u-joints, I'm learning by reading

jesterbomb said:

I am going to try that cap busting thing tomorrow morning before work if I get a moment in between swapping my rear springs. Not because I doubt you 8mud, but because now I have to know myself!

Bench vises. That is one of those tools that young guys like me really have to keep a sharp eye out for at garage sales and auctions and the like. The new ones... I just haven't been able to find one that will stand up to even moderate use. The older ones would be an actual USEFUL family heirloom, but I'm not in line to get one. Ah well.

Hope it's going well for you there Djmcak. Didn't mean to HiJack the thread, but just as you're learning while doing the u-joints, I'm learning by reading

Click to expand...

Try using an old bolt instead of a socket, the closer you get to the center of the cap, the easier they break.

I was given a new vice not long ago, it lasted about two months.

well.. i guess im gonna try the vice again today... i sprayed all the caps with PB-Blaster multiple times last night before going to bed.

SUCCESS!

the pb blaster pulled through yet again! i just waited all night while it soaked its way through, i tried again this morning with little hope... and ended up working through all of it with in 1 hour.

I read another forum post where the guy slipped and his hammer hit the spicer clip retainer edge.. i learned to watch out for that.

anyway.. ill post some pictures of my old u-joints... very interesting what a lack of bearings can do.