Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) front axle u joint replacement

[ninjazx7]

my left side front axle u joint is trashed. has anyone ever tried to replace the u joint themselves?

i have 96' 4x4 and the cv has somthing like steel caps pressed into, and over the yoke and u joint ends. i'm lost never seen anything like it.

i dont want to have to take it some where and pay for something i might could do.

 

[BWilson]

It's a walk in the park.....



1. Jack up the bad side of the truck

2. Pull the tire off

3. Remove the brake caliper (two 3/8 allen head screws in the back)

4. Remove the axle shaft nut

5. Remove the four bolts holding the hub assembly on (4 12 pt 9/16 bolts) this may be hard to get off, I've put a puller on mine before and also used a long puch to hit the bolts but be careful, a new hub is over $400.

6. Pull out the axle shaft. careful that you don't damage the oil seal.

7. Change the U joint

8. Assemble in reverse order, follow torque specs.



I've got it down to about an hour now. It took me almost three the first time though.

 

[ninjazx7]

i got the front axle out with no problem. my problem now is getting the old u joint out. it appears that the caps are flanged. do they need to be pressed out from the inside?

 

[Philip]

They are not flanged. What you are seeing is a C-clip. You need to remove this before the U-joint will come out.



Thi sould be a close match to your U-joint. The grove you see in the cap is where the C-clip sets inside of the yoke.

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[illflem]

Here some instructions on replacing driveshaft u-joints, same idea http://www.wt4wheeling.com/tech/ujoint.htm



I prefer to use a vice or C-clamp to squeeze the bearings in rather than the hammer in the instructions. Skip the welding part. Be careful, you really don't want the needle bearings to fall out

 

[Joe G.]

If you have a press available that works best. It takes a big vise for these U-joints if you use the vise and socket method to take it apart and put it back together. Beating it is not a good idea. You can mess something up with a near miss.

 

[sandbrew]

TTT for Njord

 

[bighammer]

Who is Njord?

 

[sandbrew]

Screen name of a buddy of mine working on axles. Sandbrew

 

[BWilson]

I have always had the best luck (and the fastest) by using the hammer method to take them out and a vise to put them back together. I also take the cups before I start and put some synthetic grease in there to help hold the needle bearings during assy.

 

[illflem]

What's the consensus, zerked joints or lubed for life?

I've heard the zerked joints are weaker due to the cross being hollow.

Have also heard that the OEM joints are better than any after market ones even though way more expendsive.

 

[bighammer]

I prefer a hammer (big hammer ) and old sockets to remove the old cups. I've seen yokes get distorted under the pressure required to get an old rusty cup out. A bit a penetrating oil and repeated hammer blows knocks them loose pretty easily. A vise (or press) to put them in is good because you are less likely to have the rollers fall out of line.



I also prefer the greaseable joints. Nothing scientific, but I just feel better being able to shoot some new goo in em.

 

[BWilson]

I definitely like the joints with a zerk; however, I got 200K out of one of the original joints before it broke pulling stumps out and 400K out of the other one. And the U joints on the driveshaft are still original (although I add some grease to the inside of the cups everytime I take the driveshaft off).

 

[Speedo]

Front axle u-joints

I run Dana 60 front axles in both of our hunting rigs and I have

snapped inner and outer axles and have never hurt a joint.

I use Neapco 332 greaseable u-joints



Gus