'89 XJ Needs Ft. Axle U-Joints & Ft. Wheel Bearings

The "wheel bearings" you refer to are commonly called unit bearings. While they can be a bit of a pain to get out, there is no reason they should be damaged. The tool can be had as part of the tool loaner program from Autozone for a deposit only. It is a slide hammer that screws onto the lug nuts and is used to pop the unit bearing out. The key is to leave the axle nut in place. A search on this should yield tons of info.

The unit bearings should come out fairly easily once you remove the three retaining screws (you'll need either a 12m/m or 13m/m 12-point socket, I don't recall,) and the axle hub nut. You can isolate the hub nut (and keep the axle shaft from turning) either by having a helper stand on the brake pedal, or by putting a bit of bar stock through the yoke ears.

Torque the retaining bolts for the unit bearing assembly to 75 pound-feet, and the axle hub nut to 175 pound-feet. The hub assembly should pull out fairly easily - you can use either a slide hammer (work lightly) or an old wheel as a slide hammer to pull the hub loose, if it doesn't come right out. If you have to replace them, expect a new unit bearing assembly to run right around $100 (you'll want two...)

The universal joints should run ~$15 each (you'll want two of those as well...) and they're fairly easy to replace if you have a C-frame U-joint press, a vise and sockets to fit, or a shop press and receiving plates.

It takes longer to R&I the shafts than it does to change the joints, and if you coat the caps on the new joints with never-seez, you'll have an easier time changing them next time (I find never-seez useful - I just rarely use it on screw threads...)

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If you're going to replace the U-joints, you will have to pull the shafts out. If you're just changing bearings, you don't need to pull the halfshafts - just the halfshaft nuts.

Remember, i fyou use never-seez, torque the bolts to about HALF of the listed value - ~38 pound-feet for the hub bearing retainer screws, and ~88 pound-feet for the axle shaft nut. That's one place I do use never-seez on screw threads - when they're likely to get wet, hot, dirty, and quite a few other things that make them difficult to remove later. Might as well put a coat on the bore in the knuckle as well - so the bearing assembly will be easier to remove next time.

Always assume that the next poor schmuck to work on something will be you, and you're going to be away from your toolkit. That makes it a LOT easier the next time you get into things...

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