U-JOINT REPLACEMENT
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Joined: Oct 2006
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U-JOINT REPLACEMENT
I was thinking about when I went to this place here in concord because my U joints were clicking. They told me it would cost 600 dollars and 2 days to fix. There name is "Tire Kingdom". RIP OFF. I said screw that and went to another shop with a press. I thought I would share some info that I am taking from experience and typing out. This is how you replace your U-joints.
Fun huh? Now my pics are from various sites so they may not be in order but you will catch on hopefully. I would reccomend getting a press if your doing this job yourself. Well you have to have one so.....Lets go:
U Joint Replacement
Be smart. Put tire blocks or some strong wood in front of your tires.
Jack up both rear wheels and put car on jack stands.
Remove both wheels. DUH
Disengage Parking brake. No **** You cant work with that thing locking the rear up. One more thing. Put the car in NEUTRAL!!!. Back wheels lock up in park.Figured that part out myself.
Remove the Halfshaft. **Should be the first picture.
Place a Jack under the leaf spring on the side you are working on. Then jack it up 3 inches.
Remove the Cotter pin from the "leave spring nut" Then remove the cotter pin from the tie rod nut....
Remove the leaf spring nut and bolt. USE WD-40 AND A SOCKET HERE....
Separate tie rod from knuckle but do not tear up the rubber fitting!
Make a line from the camber bolt to the bracket. HAS TO BE REALIGNED TO KEEPCAR BALANCED
**SECOND PICTURE**
Rotate assembly so that two of the 5/16" strap bolts are accessible on the top of the halfshaft on the differential end.
Remove two 5/16" strap bolts from differential side of halfshaft. Use WD-40 on all of these parts.
Rotate assembly 180 degrees.
Remove the last two 5/16" strap bolts
remove the wheel side ones. **third pic**
Remove two 5/16" strap bolts from wheel side of halfshaft. Use WD-40 liberally.
Rotate assembly 180 degrees.
Remove the last two 5/16" strap bolts. Use WD-40 liberally.
Pull wheel knuckle away from the car to drop halfshaft out. You may have to get a screwdriver or other prying device in between the universal joints and mounting surface to help pry the halfshaft out as they can be stuck in place.
Before you do anything, this may be a good point to take a little extra time to make reassembly much easier. I took the 5/16" strap bolts that came out of the halfshaft, mounting straps, and leaf spring bolt and cleaned them up on a wirewheel on my bench grinder. They were coated with years of surface rust and they went in like a dream comparitively when I reassembled everything.
5/16" Strap Bolts Uncleaned and Cleaned
Remove the 2 snap-rings from the halfshaft end you are working on.
Squeeze the two ends and slide a flathead screwdriver under it and pop it out.
26. Find two sockets. One must be slightly smaller than the outter diameter of the u-joint
(18mm) and one slightly larger than the outter diameter of the u-joint ( 1.5").
Setup the u-joint and sockets in a vice.
Small socket on the outside of the vice lined up with u-joint, large socket on the inside of the vice lined up with u-joint.
Now press the vice inward which will also press one end of the u-joint into the large socket.
Once the u-joint has been pressed over as far as possible, remove the setup from the vice and pull off the cap from the large socket end with your hands.
You should be able to now pull the rest of the u-joint out of the halfshaft easily.
At this point take the time to clean the halfshaft. clean all dirt and anything else off of it with a bath in kerosene, and then clothed it down and hit it with some compressed air to fully dry it. You could easily use something like brake cleaner, or anything else that you know works at removing grease.
HEY bargain tip: DAWN SOAP...
Universal Joint Installation
Press the halfshaft into the vice.
Lubricate the innerside of the halfshaft loops with some sort of press libricant.
Coat with lubricant, you don't need much. Even motor oil would work here.
34. Set the new u-joint in place exactly as the old one was (with one cap off) before you removed it.
Install one snapring on the loop of the halfshaft on the outside of the vice.
Place the cap on by hand and press it on as far as you can gently making sure all is lined up.
Setup the new u-joint to be installed.
Setup the u-joint and sockets in the opposite manner as when you removed it. Larger socket on the outside loop where the installed snapring is, and small socket on the inside.
so that when the vice is pressed in, the u-joint will be moved in the opposite direction pushing it into the halfshaft. In this shot you can see the white grease from inside the new u-joint that has pressed out during installation.
Press the new u-joint in smoothly until you can feel it come up against the installed snapring. The pressure will increase, this is how you can tell.
Install the snapring on the opposite side now.
The u-joint may be a little tough to turn as pressing it in loads up everything to the side that had the large socket on it during install. What I do is take something like a chisel with a very blunt end on it, and whack it with a hammer where the green arrow is pointed. You want to whack it towards the side you put the cap on by hand with. You don't need much, be very gentle, just a slight tap should work. You should notice that the u-joint moves much more freely after doing this as the load will be distributed throughout both sides now evently.
Installation
Installation is basically the exact same as removal, just in the opposite direction. There are a few things to consider when reinstalling.
Remember to line up the Camber Bolt with the score marks when you reinstall it.
Remember to install the leaf-spring nut so that the same amount of threads are showing.
Remember to use new cotter-pins where you removed the other two.
Remember to use some locktite on the 5/16" strap bolts upon reinstallation.
Remember to make sure the u-joints are on the inside of the little blocks that hold it in place side to side when it goes back in.
If anyone has anything to add PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO MAKE COMMENTS. I think it would help others and myself learn more.I like learnign new things bout my vette. Goodluck to the ones who are brave enough to try this.
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/93FC489358F944CCAFAC114F58CE9667.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/5AA302E88C4640C89F49D0EAA29430DD.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/1D5D98F4E8EA4D3E8DF4347F4CF98626.jpg[/IMG]
Fun huh? Now my pics are from various sites so they may not be in order but you will catch on hopefully. I would reccomend getting a press if your doing this job yourself. Well you have to have one so.....Lets go:U Joint Replacement
Be smart. Put tire blocks or some strong wood in front of your tires.
Jack up both rear wheels and put car on jack stands.
Remove both wheels. DUH
Disengage Parking brake. No **** You cant work with that thing locking the rear up. One more thing. Put the car in NEUTRAL!!!. Back wheels lock up in park.
Figured that part out myself.Remove the Halfshaft. **Should be the first picture.
Place a Jack under the leaf spring on the side you are working on. Then jack it up 3 inches.
Remove the Cotter pin from the "leave spring nut" Then remove the cotter pin from the tie rod nut....
Remove the leaf spring nut and bolt. USE WD-40 AND A SOCKET HERE....
Separate tie rod from knuckle but do not tear up the rubber fitting!
Make a line from the camber bolt to the bracket. HAS TO BE REALIGNED TO KEEPCAR BALANCED
**SECOND PICTURE**
Rotate assembly so that two of the 5/16" strap bolts are accessible on the top of the halfshaft on the differential end.
Remove two 5/16" strap bolts from differential side of halfshaft. Use WD-40 on all of these parts.
Rotate assembly 180 degrees.
Remove the last two 5/16" strap bolts
remove the wheel side ones. **third pic**
Remove two 5/16" strap bolts from wheel side of halfshaft. Use WD-40 liberally.
Rotate assembly 180 degrees.
Remove the last two 5/16" strap bolts. Use WD-40 liberally.
Pull wheel knuckle away from the car to drop halfshaft out. You may have to get a screwdriver or other prying device in between the universal joints and mounting surface to help pry the halfshaft out as they can be stuck in place.
Before you do anything, this may be a good point to take a little extra time to make reassembly much easier. I took the 5/16" strap bolts that came out of the halfshaft, mounting straps, and leaf spring bolt and cleaned them up on a wirewheel on my bench grinder. They were coated with years of surface rust and they went in like a dream comparitively when I reassembled everything.
5/16" Strap Bolts Uncleaned and Cleaned
Remove the 2 snap-rings from the halfshaft end you are working on.
Squeeze the two ends and slide a flathead screwdriver under it and pop it out.
26. Find two sockets. One must be slightly smaller than the outter diameter of the u-joint
(18mm) and one slightly larger than the outter diameter of the u-joint ( 1.5").
Setup the u-joint and sockets in a vice.
Small socket on the outside of the vice lined up with u-joint, large socket on the inside of the vice lined up with u-joint.
Now press the vice inward which will also press one end of the u-joint into the large socket.
Once the u-joint has been pressed over as far as possible, remove the setup from the vice and pull off the cap from the large socket end with your hands.
You should be able to now pull the rest of the u-joint out of the halfshaft easily.
At this point take the time to clean the halfshaft. clean all dirt and anything else off of it with a bath in kerosene, and then clothed it down and hit it with some compressed air to fully dry it. You could easily use something like brake cleaner, or anything else that you know works at removing grease.
HEY bargain tip: DAWN SOAP...
Universal Joint Installation
Press the halfshaft into the vice.
Lubricate the innerside of the halfshaft loops with some sort of press libricant.
Coat with lubricant, you don't need much. Even motor oil would work here.
34. Set the new u-joint in place exactly as the old one was (with one cap off) before you removed it.
Install one snapring on the loop of the halfshaft on the outside of the vice.
Place the cap on by hand and press it on as far as you can gently making sure all is lined up.
Setup the new u-joint to be installed.
Setup the u-joint and sockets in the opposite manner as when you removed it. Larger socket on the outside loop where the installed snapring is, and small socket on the inside.
so that when the vice is pressed in, the u-joint will be moved in the opposite direction pushing it into the halfshaft. In this shot you can see the white grease from inside the new u-joint that has pressed out during installation.
Press the new u-joint in smoothly until you can feel it come up against the installed snapring. The pressure will increase, this is how you can tell.
Install the snapring on the opposite side now.
The u-joint may be a little tough to turn as pressing it in loads up everything to the side that had the large socket on it during install. What I do is take something like a chisel with a very blunt end on it, and whack it with a hammer where the green arrow is pointed. You want to whack it towards the side you put the cap on by hand with. You don't need much, be very gentle, just a slight tap should work. You should notice that the u-joint moves much more freely after doing this as the load will be distributed throughout both sides now evently.
Installation
Installation is basically the exact same as removal, just in the opposite direction. There are a few things to consider when reinstalling.
Remember to line up the Camber Bolt with the score marks when you reinstall it.
Remember to install the leaf-spring nut so that the same amount of threads are showing.
Remember to use new cotter-pins where you removed the other two.
Remember to use some locktite on the 5/16" strap bolts upon reinstallation.
Remember to make sure the u-joints are on the inside of the little blocks that hold it in place side to side when it goes back in.
If anyone has anything to add PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO MAKE COMMENTS. I think it would help others and myself learn more.
I like learnign new things bout my vette. Goodluck to the ones who are brave enough to try this.[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/93FC489358F944CCAFAC114F58CE9667.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/5AA302E88C4640C89F49D0EAA29430DD.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/1D5D98F4E8EA4D3E8DF4347F4CF98626.jpg[/IMG]
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