Just replaced driveshaft U-joints, one is extremely stiff - help?!

Hey guys,

I noticed some harmonic vibration under acceleration that was consistent with transmission output speed, and decided this weekend's project would be to replace my rear drive shaft U-joints. Many hours later (after finally going and renting a ball joint press, one of those gigantic C-clamps with a 22mm hex head) I have the new ones installed, but am concerned about the rear U-joint.

After installing it (having to re-press each side several times to seat the C-clips), I have found it is quite difficult to move. Its movement is smooth (I made very, very sure not to knock any of the needle bearings over while putting in the spider), just very stiff.

Is this normal? The C-clips also look quite stressed. Will this work itself out after a bit of normal use? I really want to put an end to this project, and I'm ready to re-install it at a moment's notice (it's chillin' on the bench for the moment).

Thanks in advance!

Once you have pressed in your u-joints, you need to take a hammer(brass) if you have one and smack the yoke in all directions, it will become free, Unless you did not put them in correctly.

What he said. When you press on the caps the ears bend it slightly causing the binding. Smacking it a few times will return the ears to the proper position.

homebrew said:

What he said. When you press on the caps the ears bend it slightly causing the binding. Smacking it a few times will return the ears to the proper position.

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Most of the time that is true.

However, if the cups go in a little crooked, they may shave some metal from the yoke (which gets caught between the cup and the yoke. You end up with a slightly out of round bearing cup.

Not much to do except dissassemble and try again or drive it till it either wears in or wears out.

If you are sure no needles got out of place, hammer a few time and put it in the rig.

As always, thanks a ton for the input. I tapped the yoke with a hammer from numerous different angles (on both sides) but it didn't seem to loosen its movement any. Based on the comments here and what I've read elsewhere, I went ahead and re-installed it after looking everything over. Aside from not being able to fully close the slip yoke boot ties/straps, I ultimately ended up using two heavy-duty zip ties to do the job.

Also, many thanks to Wwildman for his time today discussing these questions and concerns with me (we spoke shortly after I posted this thread on an unrelated discussion about a junkyard trip that eventually led to this). The community is far stronger than I initially imagined, and I'm looking forward to contributing in any way I can moving forward (once I'm a little less of a newjack I should be valuable ).

You guys rock.



Oh yeah, and this got rid of the resonant vibration I was getting while under 50%+ throttle accelerating to, or whilst traveling at, highway speeds (seemingly in addition to a "thunk" I'd get every once in a while when initially starting off from a stop, or when switching between drive/reverse).

anthrax323 said:

Aside from not being able to fully close the slip yoke boot ties/straps, I ultimately ended up using two heavy-duty zip ties to do the job.

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^---- Are you sure this is kosher? When I did mine a couple weeks ago, everything fit together very smoothly.

96' and up have an external slip joint on the output shaft of the transfer case. It has a boot, like a shock boot, with band clamps on it. It's purpose is to prevent contamination of the slip joint.

After trying many solutions, including tie wraps, I stopped worrying about it and use nothing except the boot. Now, when I feel the slip joint binding, I just remove the drive shaft, slather on some grease and slam it home again.

-Ron

sarg0n - It's fine, I simply couldn't close the little fancy metal clamps that I removed when I went to re-install them. Could be my hands, or my exasperation at that point, who knows - once I zip-tied it in place (in the correct points) it was just as secure as it was before it was removed.

Zuki-Ron is spot-on, except I'd rather not experience the joy of having mine bind up

In any case, everything is gravy. The whole drivetrain feels considerably tighter, and it eliminated an occasional clunk I'd hear when shifting between reverse and drive.