Rear Driveshaft Universal Joints

[leathermaneod]

Hey all,

Getting ready to replace my rear driveshaft U joints. I know the rearmost one is going bad because the caps were a little hard to spin when we had it out to do my clutch. I figured if Im doing one, I might as well do all three. I also have a slight shaking that happens right around 40 mph, and I'm hoping replacing the U joints will take care of it. I helped my dad with U joints before, but it was a while ago, so I just wanted to see if anyone has any tips/tricks to share. I know to mark the driveshaft and keep it in the same orientation. I'm also planning to rent a press from autozone. I know some will say to just use a hammer, but I'm a little worried about bending things. As far as new U joints go, I'm looking at SKF's from NAPA. They are greasable, which is what I want. Anything else I should know? Or recommendations for better U joints?

Thanks!

[notlimah]

I'm in for the sub because I've wanted to do this as well at some point but never tackled something like this! Take lots of pics!!

[Mopar1973Man]

I use a Harbor Freight ball joint press for doing u-joints. Just use a impact gun to drive the press. More or less a big C-clamp. Works good and quick to change out u-joints. I would suggest to get a small hone stone/brush and run it through the holes to clean them up a little bit. Take all the rust out and it will make installing much easier.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/ball-joint-service-kit-for-2wd-and-4wd-vehicles-60827.html

 

[leathermaneod]

Thanks for the tip! sounds like a good plan.

[Dieselfuture]

Make sure there is no burs inside where caps go in or it will put uneven  pressure on the cap and ruin your joints quick, also when you're done putting it together use a hard rubber hammer and hit on drive shaft lightly while resting yoke on something and vise versa to get caps pushed back against clips so it turns real smooth and easy, and also make sure to clean groves where clips go in rely well. You can use a socket and hammer but make sure you don't over force things and you're hitting and supporting right places.

[leathermaneod]

Thank you! I'll keep your suggestions in mind.

[Mopar1973Man]

12 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

Make sure there is no burs inside where caps go in or it will put uneven  pressure on the cap and ruin your joints quick

 

I've seen this happen when people do the hammer method they end up beating the trunnion into the opposite side and dent the downside bearing cup hole. Then you end up using files to straighten out the holes again then hone the holes smooth. Just make sure not to over do the holes with either a file or hones you still want to have good press fit for your bearings.

[KATOOM]

This is where I tend to go against the grain of DIY.  Yes, I completely agree that replacing u-joints is a simple task for those who've done them often.....but a task which is VERY easy to screw up too if you're not careful.  You can unknowingly smash a slipped needle bearing in the cap, over press the caps into the yoke binding the caps, bend the yoke ear, etc.....  All of these would go undetected too until you installed the driveshaft and found a new harmonic vibration.  For this reason I no longer mess with my u-joints as I have many times in the past but now merely take the complete shaft to a reputable driveline shop and say please install some new u-joints.  They usually charge very little additional to the cost of quality "non-greaseable" u-joints and you're on your way.  Some may balk at this advice but there's a few things I'll no longer bother with an u-joints are one of them.....

 

In regards to the slight shake at 40 mph you mentioned, I'm betting this is nothing to do with u-joints.  1) u-joints dont "shake" or wobble but will hum a harmonic vibration (like a massage tool) and get worse the faster you drive.  And 2) I'm sure the shake you're feeling is better described as something like the rear tires feel slightly egg shaped between 40 to 45 mph which gives a little hop feel in the rear.  That sound more like it?

[leathermaneod]

Thanks for the advice! I can appreciate your recommendation on having a driveline shop do it, but I have a hard time trusting anyone else to be more careful than I will after some of my experiences. I have a friend who is experienced to help so I'll think we'll be ok. 

 

As as far as the shake, yes it is similar to what you describe. Not sure if it's isolated to the rear or not. It's not horrible, but it is enough to bounce you around a bit. I would say it is between 37 and 42 mph. What do you think is the cause if not the u joints??

[leathermaneod]

So I called around a to a few places. It sounds like everyone is going to either use a hammer on the u joints, or use the c clamp style press like I have on loan. So there is no point in my getting someone else to do what I can do. Only reason would be to get it balanced at the same time, but I don't have any reason to think it needs balanced at this point.

 

Katoom you you have really got me wondering what the issue is if not the u joints. I already have a new carrier bearing so it's not that. I just rotated my tires so I don't know how it could be anything to do with them...unless it's over inflation maybe....don't keep me in suspense dude lol

Edited May 20, 2016 by leathermaneod

[notlimah]

17 hours ago, KATOOM said:

In regards to the slight shake at 40 mph you mentioned, I'm betting this is nothing to do with u-joints.  1) u-joints dont "shake" or wobble but will hum a harmonic vibration (like a massage tool) and get worse the faster you drive.  And 2) I'm sure the shake you're feeling is better described as something like the rear tires feel slightly egg shaped between 40 to 45 mph which gives a little hop feel in the rear.  That sound more like it?

 

He basically answered it for ya already!

 

Basically just wheels not being perfect and for some reasons these trucks react to it more the other vehicles. Both my 99 and 02 do the same thing between 40-50mph and both have different tire sizes, driveline, bed length and they still do the same thing. I think it's just something that comes with these trucks and as long as it's not throwing you out of your seat then I wouldn't worry about it.

[leathermaneod]

lol oh ok I didn't realize he was saying thats the cause. I though he was just using it as an example. Thanks for that haha

[Dieselfuture]

Belive it or not I had a car and it was vibrating around 65 changed all I could think about, ended up being rear drums. Not sure how it was doing it but it did. Also make sure surfaces of wheel hub axle and wheel are flat and clean.

[notlimah]

5 hours ago, leathermaneod said:

lol oh ok I didn't realize he was saying thats the cause. I though he was just using it as an example. Thanks for that haha

 

[KATOOM]

9 hours ago, leathermaneod said:

So I called around a to a few places. It sounds like everyone is going to either use a hammer on the u joints, or use the c clamp style press like I have on loan. So there is no point in my getting someone else to do what I can do. Only reason would be to get it balanced at the same time, but I don't have any reason to think it needs balanced at this point.

 

Katoom you you have really got me wondering what the issue is if not the u joints. I already have a new carrier bearing so it's not that. I just rotated my tires so I don't know how it could be anything to do with them...unless it's over inflation maybe....don't keep me in suspense dude lol

 

Its not "what" they use as its more "how many they do and how they do it".....  I have all the common everyday tools for changing u-joints too but I dont bother with them anymore.  In saying that, I only use non-greaseable u-joints with quality grease and the last time I had to change a u-joint was around 10 years ago.  If quality Spicer non-greaseable joints are used with quality grease in the caps then dealing with u-joints should be a very infrequent event.....

 

As for the little hop, no one has found a pin point component which supposedly causes the 45 mph hop.  People have fixed it with new shocks or new tires (as I did) but I've come to the theoretical opinion that the hop is related to the mounting of the engine and transmission, whereby any driveline movement will cause the engine/tranny to move in a harmonious movement which transmits feedback to the passengers as a hop.  Sometimes when you hit road bumps a certain way you can almost feel the wiggle of the transmission too.  I'd like to replace my transmission mount with a polyurethane mount but my truck no longer hops so its not high on my priority list.

[Killer223]

i use a vise, and two sockets, one on each side one big enough to accept the cap and one the same size as the cap. place in vise and squeeze them together. works great.

as for greaseable vs non, i have yet to see a difference. I guess if your in water often then the greaseable would be good to push the water out. but it's a debatable moot point.

[Mopar1973Man]

Personally I've destroyed two vises doing u-joints.

 

As for u-joints I tend to favor greasable because I can hit them during oil change time. As for breaking a greasable u-joint I've not been able to do it yet. 

[KATOOM]

Agreed that running greaseable verses non-greaseable u-joints is to each is own.....  But I can unequivocally say that every time I would hit greaseable u-joints with the grease gun I would think, "wow, look at all that gross contaminated grease squeezing out".  Although I've NEVER pulled the cap off a non-greaseable u-joint and found any contamination.  Non-greaseables dont wear out because you cant get the contaminants out but greaseable most certainly will.....

 

Next time you have a greaseable u-joint next to a non-greaseable -joint take notice of the obvious difference and quality of the cap seals whereby greaseable have a single weak seal to allow grease to pump out and non-greaseable have three tight seals which snap into place keeping grease in and everything else out.  Which one does a better job of sealing.....

 

Here's a good analogy.....how many people run to tear apart their front wheel bearings every time they cross a creek?  But for some reason its protocol to grab the grease gun and pump a little goo into the u-joints after water crossings.....  Whats the difference?

[leathermaneod]

Well thanks everyone for all the helpful advice and tips! I did get them done today. I used greaseable SKF's from Napa. I must say that was A LOT of work! I totally understand now why some of you recommended getting them done. It was really a pain to get the retaining clips seated in and then get the joint to loosen up. I had to use a punch and chisel to get them to seat, plus some tapping with the correct size socket and hammer. I basically ruined one of the joints by cutting the seal. One of the joints was slightly crooked and I tried to tap a cap on, it cut that sliver of the seal right off. 

I know I probably should have torn it back out and got another one, but I figured its greasable so it will probably last a good while anyway. We'll see how that actually works out lol. Also had kind of an unfortunate discovery, the forward most joint, where the driveshaft exits the transfer case, one side of that joint, I forget which, was not very tight in the yoke. I mean it was tight, it went in tight, but with the clips out, and the new joint in place, it would move back and forth about an 1/8 of an inch by hand! I don't think its loose enough to have any play, but still not something I wanted to find. What do you guys think?  I just went out and checked and there is no play in they joint, at least none that I can feel by grabbing the end of each shaft and trying to twist the joint.

 

Just some extra pics of everything. I used sand paper on the holes to clean them up. I also used a round file a few times to get rid of some nicks from pressing the joint to far. Nothing major though and the file cleaned it up nice. 

 

I had to get that vice grip super tight and then hammer on it while turning it to get those caps off. 

It kinda sucks too because I did all that work because I thought the rearmost u joint was going bad and it turns out none of them were that bad. I mean they were old and rusting and the grease in them was black, but they weren't that bad. And they were spicer non greasable.

Edited May 21, 2016 by leathermaneod

[KATOOM]

5 hours ago, leathermaneod said:

I had to get that vice grip super tight and then hammer on it while turning it to get those caps off. 

It kinda sucks too because I did all that work because I thought the rearmost u joint was going bad and it turns out none of them were that bad. I mean they were old and rusting and the grease in them was black, but they weren't that bad. And they were spicer non greasable.

 

Dont forget that those non-greaseable ones are STOCK and have been in there for going on 300k miles.....  Thats not to put a time line on non-greaseable verses greaseable either but merely making a valid point.