DOH! Axle shaft u-joint replacement question inside

[fwdjunky]

Ok, so I found a trashed u-joint on the drivers side axle shaft for my D60. After removing the shaft I went to my handy dandy harbor freight 20 ton hydraulic shop press and after a good slathering of marvel mystery oil removed the 25+ year old gook encrusted joint. So far, so good. THEN, I go to put the new joint in and discover the yoke for the long shaft has been squeezed together and I can't make the C clips for the new joint fit in the grooves. Short of grinding a bit off the inside of the yoke ears (seems like a very bad idea to me) does anyone have any ideas for how I can spread these back apart by about 1/16 to 1/8 inch? Thanks for helping fix my stupidity!

Rich

 

[Zeus33rd]

You bent the yoke 1/8"?? If thats really the case, I'd say you're sol.

You might try making the snap rings alittle thinner with a sander. Not a reall goo idea though. Make sure there's no mud or crap in the snap rign grooves too.

Also, make sure you haven't dropped a needle bearing inside the cap. That could also cause the problems you're having. Good luck.

 

[K5er4Life]

That hf press is pretty awesome huh? Cant beat the price. Anyways sounds like you need a porta power now, I think hf has those too. put the spreader in there and open it back up a little bit. Since its the front I would be ok with doing that.

 

[loafer]

ear spreader:

A BFH can be used to spread the ears, but I've found spreading the ears with a 1/2"bolt, nut, washer and socket to work well:

Just place this between the ears and with two wrenches keep backing the out to spread the ears. You will need to spread the ears further than you want them because they will spring back a little bit.

In the future don't use a press to seperate the joint. The hammer and socket approach usually does not bend the ears as much as a press.