universal

[TurbolessRegal]

When you're replacing the rear universal, do you take the driveshaft completely out to put it in a vice, or is it possible to swap the universal while under the car.

Also, if you have to remove it, is it better to pull the whole shaft out, or unbolt it at the front u joint. Being that I'm new at this, I'd rather not take the driveshaft out of the transmission and mess things up....

Lastly, do you lubricate the bearing caps before they are pressed into the yoke? Is so, with what?

Thanks for any tips, etc.

 

[Sinful6]

! TurbolessRegal! Sacrifice the non-believer!

 

[Ken Cunningham]

Take the driveshaft completely out of the car. No way do you want to be pounding out the ujoints from underneath!! 1st: mark the driveshaft and the front and rear so you can reinstall it exactly as it came out. This supposedly keeps your d/s in balance, altho I had a drive line pro tell me that it's really no big deal. The drive shaft is balanced out of the car anyway, isn't it? 2nd: remove the 2 retaining straps from the rear ujoint. Lower the drive shaft and it just pulls out from the tranny output. You will lose some trans fluid here, but not a bunch. The stock ujoints are retained by plastic retainers from the factory, these retainers have to be broken out. You prolly don't have a press, so be prepared to do a lot of banging with a socket placed against the joint and a BFH to pound it out with! I totally destroyed one of the cheapie Chinese sockets that last time I did this.

 

[Ken Cunningham]

Sorry, my last post relates to my experience with the TR and the 200-4r tranny. Your situation may be different...

 

[TurbolessRegal]

Thanks. Yeah, a lot of stuff I read shows that you use a small socket on one end and a larger one to accept the bearing cap on the other. I think the school shop has a vice...

I've heard that you can torch the plastic that they used instead of snaprings, any truth to this?

 

[motorhead]

Turboless' I have nothing to add... you have all the advice you need.

1) nice car!
2) Clarkson U, eh?! My good buddy went to Clarkson, being Canadian, it wasn't cheap! He played for the school basket ball team... was a starter... Mark Ruddy if that rings a bell. Oh the horror stories I heard about Potsdam, NY.
3) Cool ride!

Good luck,

 

[GN ERGY]

Just use a standard propane torch and heat the metal around the u joint, you will see the plastic melt out of there. Trust me it's a lot easier to get the u joint apart after you melt the plastic out of there, like nite and day. I got to do the universals a lot on my trucks, one has 8in. of lift one has 14in.of lift. I tried once to pound one apart without melting the plastic, what a Bit-h. Then let it cool you don't have to pound it out while it's hot. GOOD LUCK. Once you do it ,you'll see how easy it is.
Tarey D.

 

[SilverSleeper]

Potsdam huh?
Geez I almost went there to the Crane school.
I went for my audition in the middle of december. I think the winter weather there would drive me nuts. I hear the snow stays on the ground until at least late april every year.
I did have a friend go there though. She didnt last long, only about a year or so.

 

[Black Sabbath]

Caution is needed when heating u joints.

I have never seen this happen but my old shop teacher was once using a torch to heat the u-joint and had it explode on him. Apparently the heat cause the grease in the joint to expand and blow the joint apart, spraying hot grease and plastic at him. You can still do this just be careful about how fast you heat the joint and how hot it gets.

Brian

 

[TurbolessRegal]

Thanks for the replies...

I'm gonna have to try the torch thing. Tried to get it out using the small driver/big driver and vice method...cracked the vice lol. They do have a hydraulic press at the shop, but the press itself is too big and I am afraid of bending the driveshaft on the machine itself.

 

[Bonden]

Originally posted by Ken Cunningham
Take the driveshaft completely out of the car. No way do you want to be pounding out the ujoints from underneath!! 1st: mark the driveshaft and the front and rear so you can reinstall it exactly as it came out. This supposedly keeps your d/s in balance, altho I had a drive line pro tell me that it's really no big deal. The drive shaft is balanced out of the car anyway, isn't it?

So, just suppose you have had your u-joints replaced and the first time you drive it, there is a very noticable vibration in the drivetrain beginning at about 50 mph and the worst at about 65 mph, then diminishing as speed rises.... is this a driveshaft imbalance perhaps??

Should the driveshaft be removed and rotated 180 degrees and reinstalled - is this a likely fix ???

 

[Ken Cunningham]

It's easy enough to do that you could try just flipping the drive shaft over. But my guess is that one or both of the u-joints are binding up.

 

[Bonden]

These are both new u-joints - the heavy duty kind. I don't spose it's possible they were not installed correctly??

Snow will keep me in today, but will visit with a mechanic friend with a lift asap.

Thanks for your reply..