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Front Drive Shaft U-Joint Questions (update)

1-ton

1-ton

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Does anybody know of a tech article on replacing the u-Joints on my double cardan front drive shaft? Do not see any on this web site. Did a search on the web, and all of them are for Jeep front drive shafts. Mine drive shaft has the original u-joints in it. It looks like there are dust covers on the u-joint cap ends that are held in with some small pins. I am not sure on the best way to remove them. My truck spent all of its time babied on the road so my truck probably has less that 100 miles on it in 4X4. I also need to do some clearancing on the drive shaft cardan housing because of a suspension lift. My truck is a V3500, and has an NP205 connected to a Dana-60.
 
my driveshaft shop does it for 50 bucks and it isnt worth the hassle to me.
But you melt out those pins and that is really the only difference i can think of between the gm and jeep clip style cv.
 
obijuank5 said:
my driveshaft shop does it for 50 bucks and it isnt worth the hassle to me.
But you melt out those pins and that is really the only difference i can think of between the gm and jeep clip style cv.
Click to expand...

Are those pins made of plastic or steel? The only problem with having a shop do it is that I need to do some grinding on the cardan housing, in order to get some clearance because of the suspension lift. If I give it to a shop, they are not going to want to deal with that. Thanks for the reply.
 
It is actually melted plastic that gets injected into the grooves in the yoke instead of the usual steel clips from the factory..

Those CV joints suck to replace the u-joints on,I did enough of them to last me my lifetime at the auto parts store's machine shop--I'd just take it somewhere,if they'll do it for $50--it's well worth it...

If you want to risk doing it yourself ,you'll need a good torch and a big enough vise to clamp the yoke,plus two sockets in,it'll need jaws that open at least 6",or a press to remove and install the cups,these aren't as easy as doing a single u-joint that you can use a hammer to install,you'll need three hands to hold everything in alignment while you try pressing in the cups..

Most of my 4x4 front shafts had such sloppy splines on the slip yokes I decided to just get a rebuilt one from a parts store and swap my old one in for the core charge..they used to cost about $90 exchanged,maybe less now..
 
diesel4me said:
It is actually melted plastic that gets injected into the grooves in the yoke instead of the usual steel clips from the factory..

Those CV joints suck to replace the u-joints on,I did enough of them to last me my lifetime at the auto parts store's machine shop--I'd just take it somewhere,if they'll do it for $50--it's well worth it...

If you want to risk doing it yourself ,you'll need a good torch and a big enough vise to clamp the yoke,plus two sockets in,it'll need jaws that open at least 6",or a press to remove and install the cups,these aren't as easy as doing a single u-joint that you can use a hammer to install,you'll need three hands to hold everything in alignment while you try pressing in the cups..

Most of my 4x4 front shafts had such sloppy splines on the slip yokes I decided to just get a rebuilt one from a parts store and swap my old one in for the core charge..they used to cost about $90 exchanged,maybe less now..
Click to expand...

Is the entire cover over the u-joint ends plastic, and not just steel dust caps with plastic pins holding them in? With the description of replacing these u-joints you are giving I might just do the clearance grinding with the u-joints in it. This would be harder, but the factory original u-joints in it do not really need replacing because there are very few miles on them. I mostly just wanted to do the clearance grinding. I do have all the tools you mentioned to do the job though. I could do it if I really had to. The whole reason I am working on this driveshaft at all is because of the clearance grinding I have to do to it because of the suspension lift, OR MY DRIVESHAFT WILL NOT WORK AT ALL, and a shop will not f*ck with that, so shops are OUT.
 
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The u-joints just had the typical steel cups and needle bearings on the ones I did..that plastic can be a pain to get the cups free even after its been melted sometimes,and you must clean all of it out of the snap ring grooves...the hard part is trying to keep that centering ball thing aligned while your trying to assemble everything,and not let the needles in it fall out..

The front drive shafts I did,most were the older type that had a yoke on the transfer case end that had 4 threaded holes in it,and four fine thread 5/16" bolts held it onto the transfer case yoke...they are a real pain to deal with...the later style with the 4 bolt "ring" were not as hard,if I remember right,I only did a few of those style.....at least easier to bolt back in the truck after the u-joints were installed..

That is another reason why I decided to "core" my original and get a rebuilt instead,along with the sloppy splines..I worked at a parts store and got a good discount on parts for my own vehicles,I would have spent more on u-joints and having them installed somewhere else than the rebuilt shaft costed..
 
You can clearance the cv with the joints in it, easy bench job.
 
I found some videos on youtube on how to melt that nylon retainer stuff out of my drive shaft. I have a MAP/Acetylene brazing torch set-up that can burn that stuff out in no time flat. I can do the clearancing with the u-joints in, but I would have to use my hand held grinder, and it would be a tight proposition to get into the small amount of gap there is. If I took the u-joints out, I could do it on my bench grinder, which would be a lot easier. as far as the centering bearing, that is in good condition, and does not replacing at all. I will probably just do this with the u-joints in to keep the hassle factor down to a minimum level. Thanx for the replies.
 
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I've never heated one of those 3R u joints to remove them. I just press them out. Shears the plastic off and have never spread a yoke yet.
 
Your lucky--I've had a few that were a bear to get apart,and more than once the plastic crap squirted out of the injection hole after I heated it up with the torch,and landed on my hand or arm and left a scar that might be permanent!..
A good press can probably shear the plastic without melting it,but the average bench vise is marginal without heating it up first..
I would like to get one of those C-clamp type u-joint tools,they work slick with an air gun..
 
On the Toyota joint, the clearance is added on the inside, while the 3R joint can be done externally. The disassembly/assembly should be mostly the same, though: http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/cvmod/ Or http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum...rear-drive-shaft-cv-cardan-joint-rebuild.html

You want the parts as clean as possible before starting assembly. Good use for a sandblaster if you have one, followed by some paint. Otherwise you'll carry rust or dirt from the surfaces into the centering ball.
 
I did the one on my old crew cab and don't remember any plastic stuff:dunno:

Did it on my porch with normal hammer n socket old school technique. I did use my ball joint puller, both the big and little one though. Helps press caps in and out.
Don't remember the plastic stuff but I do remember it being a giant PITA. And that center ball thing does SUCK.
 
I got the clearance grinding done on the cardan yoke ears. I did not have to remove the OEM U-joints on it. At least I understand how to get those OEM U-joints out for the future when I need to. I was worried that the grinding process would heat the steel up enough to start melting the plastic that retains the OEM U-joints, but from what I could see, it would take a lot more heat that the grinding did to start melting the U-joint retaining plastic.

My next question is that when I install the drive shaft I want to lock the hubs in and spin the tires, in order to spin the drive shaft, so that I can check the drive shaft for any binding. My guess is that I need to have my transmission in neutral, my transfer case in neutral (NP205), and the hubs locked in, in order to spin the tires and have the drive shaft spin. Would this be correct?
 
To spin the front shaft with it on the ground, keep the hubs unlocked and the t-case in neutral. Better chock the wheels as this is a good way to run your self over in the driveway.
 
Yeah that would work too lol.

I had mine jacked up and blocked because I was doing hub bearings. And when I got done I wanted to watch the drive shaft because I thought it was at a bad angle... put the T case in neutral and started spinning one wheel with my foot but all I'd did was spin the other wheel. For some reason I couldn't get my head around it for a minute lol... Then chocked the other front wheel and continued to do as I had been... I never thought about letting it down and unlocking hubs.
 
ZooMad75 said:
To spin the front shaft with it on the ground, keep the hubs unlocked and the t-case in neutral. Better chock the wheels as this is a good way to run your self over in the driveway.
Click to expand...

That way I would have to grab the drive shaft by hand and spin it. That would work too. Thanks.
 
shady said:
Yeah that would work too lol.

I had mine jacked up and blocked because I was doing hub bearings. And when I got done I wanted to watch the drive shaft because I thought it was at a bad angle... put the T case in neutral and started spinning one wheel with my foot but all I'd did was spin the other wheel. For some reason I couldn't get my head around it for a minute lol... Then chocked the other front wheel and continued to do as I had been... I never thought about letting it down and unlocking hubs.
Click to expand...
Actually, I've tried checking for slop in the rear shaft joints with the trans in gear and sitting on the ground. Couldn't figure out why it felt tight like that but had a vibration like I had a u-joint failing. Then the D'oh moment hit. I'm an idiot some days.
 
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