Rear Driveshaft Removal

[DToy]

My 04. 5 has 2 of the 3 u-joints in the rear driveshaft that are toast (getting quite a vibration). So I bought some u-joints tonight and tried to go to town on it. I cannot for the life of me get the u-joint apart at the transfer case. Pulled the clips and beat on it for a while without getting it to budge. Unbolting the flange on the differential is no big deal, but how do you get the u-joint apart at the T-case?



I think if I could get the shaft on the ground or in a vise I think I could manage it. Been searching around for hours without finding anything that helps.

 

[JKloppe]

Remove the whole shaft. 2 15mm at carrier and 4 15 at pinon. slide out of t-case

use a press on joints it will be easier on you and the drive shaft.

Once I got the cap as far out as it could go I had to cut the cap off, I tried vise grips and it would not budge.

 

[JCasper]

Take the whole shaft off the truck.



It should slide right out of the back of the transmission

 

[SSalzer]

Make sure you mark the shaft and the T-case as well as the rear end so it goes back the same way. There is a key way on the part that slides out of the transfer case that needs to be re-installed the same exact way it came out.

 

[DToy]

Man, I feel dumb. I guess I should have realized that it would slide out of the T-case. Thanks guys!

 

[Cattletrkr]

My mechanic pounds on the yoke rather than the joint. He says, "that's how you're supposed to do it. "

 

[JCasper]

My mechanic pounds on the yoke rather than the joint. He says, "that's how you're supposed to do it. "

Yup, my Dad is a retired diesel mechanic. He helped me change mine.



He got the BFH out of the toolbox and we went to town on it. :-laf

 

[DToy]

I ended up pulling it off and took it to the driveline shop. $50 later (3 joints and labor included) I was on my way and had it bolted back in within 10 minutes. Wasn't even worth getting a hammer out at that price. Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[SSalzer]

Wow! That's a deal and a half. It cost me $80 for 2 joints plus 2 hours of my time to install them.

 

[rbattelle]

My mechanic pounds on the yoke rather than the joint. He says, "that's how you're supposed to do it. "

I was taught by an "old timer" a method of doing this in such a way as to guarantee you won't bend the yoke ears. I couldn't possibly describe it in a meaningful way, though.



On edit: what do you know? I took pictures when I did my rear driveshaft!!



The idea here is that by pounding on the yoke as close to the joint cap as possible, with the shaft supported as I've shown, you remove only 1 cap at a time. Exactly 1 cap. This minimizes the amount of force required in the pounding, and since you're striking the yoke with a force in the opposite direction to the joint movement, the two forces cancel which prevents bending the yoke ears.



This has worked quite nicely for me on all my truck driveshafts.



Ryan