front passenger U joint strange nut thingy

Trying to replace my front passenger U joint I take the wheel off and there is a strange nut on there its large and is star shaped anyone know what this is called, or where I could get a socket for this?

Are you talking about the nut on the end of the axle shaft? If so, that is a 36 MM hex. You DO NOT need to remove this nut to replace the U-Joint. Just pull the unit bearing and shaft together as a unit. This has been covered here many times. Do a search and find the tip to pop the unit bearing out with an extension and the power steering.

yeah what he said and i think the device you refering to is a locking sleeve for said nut.

if i remember right u just have to pop that sleeve off to get to the actuall nut

might be talking about the protective cap over the nut, that just pops off when you take out the pin

To get that sleeve off just pull the pin, there's also a spring washer behind the locking sleeve, don't lose it, and then it's a 36mm nut torqued to something insane, I always end up jumping on a 2' breaker bar to break it free. Easiest and safest to do before you remove the wheel.

But like MoFo said, just pull the unit bearing off with the axle shaft still attached, it'll save you some time and work. And the strange shaped heads on the bolts for the unit bearing take a 13mm 12 point, or a 1/2" if that's too loose.

To get the shaft out, I use a short 3/8" drive extension, wedge it between one ear of the axle shaft and the axle housing, then turn the steering wheel, pops it right out.