Balljoints & Outer axle u joints.

bcsavage · Mar 5, 2007

went to pick'n'pull yesterday to see what I'm getting into with these drivers side upper/lower balljoints and outer ujoint. I couldn't get the damn thing (ujoint) apart. I got the two clips ooff but it looks like the ends are solid-capped and hitting them with a hammer didn't free anything up.

As for the ball joints, are those things press-ins? I just want to know more about this before I go buy new parts.

Matthew Currie · Mar 5, 2007

The drive shaft u-joints are not solid, but if they're rusty they can certainly behave that way. You can try using a very big vise and a couple of wrench sockets, one small enough to press on a cap, and the other large enough for the other cap to push inside. Or if you're careful you can use a big hammer and sockets. A ball joint press with adapters (or sockets and pieces of pipe as needed) will make the job much easier. If you use a press, you can get it very tight, and then rap the outside end of the u-joint ear with a biggish steel hammer, and it will usually pop.

Yes, the ball joints press in. You'll need a ball joint press. You can sometimes rent these.

langer1 · Mar 5, 2007

You really can't remove them to reuse, get new ones.

bcsavage · Mar 5, 2007

Matthew Currie said:
The drive shaft u-joints are not solid, but if they're rusty they can certainly behave that way. You can try using a very big vise and a couple of wrench sockets, one small enough to press on a cap, and the other large enough for the other cap to push inside. Or if you're careful you can use a big hammer and sockets. A ball joint press with adapters (or sockets and pieces of pipe as needed) will make the job much easier. If you use a press, you can get it very tight, and then rap the outside end of the u-joint ear with a biggish steel hammer, and it will usually pop.

Yes, the ball joints press in. You'll need a ball joint press. You can sometimes rent these.

not talking about drive shaft ujoints, I'm talking about outer axle ujoints. This almost doesn't seem worth it to fix as it's gonna cost me $140 just in parts, let alone the ability to get the balljoints in (we have a hand press at work but don't know if it's capable. I might be better off looking for another d30 at the wrecker that is in good shape cuz they only want $140 for a full axle assembly and then I'd have some extra parts as well.

MoparManiac · Mar 6, 2007

i dunno where the hell you get your u-joints but mine cost me like 40 bucks for both of em. there are clips around each cap, make sure you get them all completely off. I usually soak em in PB, use a small chisel/hammer to rap the clips out, then rap on the ear of the shaft while the whole thing is held tightly in a vise. hard to explain but pretty simple to do.

bcsavage · Mar 6, 2007

I wrote down prices here somewhere, but for the upper/lower ball joints and 1 u joint it's $140CAD at Lordco after taxes.

also, I just realized that the balljoints are pressed into the axle C's and no way I'm taking my whole axle off to do it at work on the hand press. Gotta check to see if CanadianTires loan-a-tool program (free) has what I need. Still thinking full axle... full WIDTH that is lol.

Balljoints & Outer axle u joints.

bcsavage

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Matthew Currie

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langer1

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bcsavage

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MoparManiac

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bcsavage

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