Do I need to remove rear driveshaft to change u joint?

[pipeline010]

Pre-amble: I'm a moron at all this. Please avoid terminology and use description wherever possible.

Have a little play in the rear driveshaft and a bit of vibration at speed yesterday, appears as if my ujoint has failed.

Not too frightened of this job (first time), but do I need to remove the whole shaft or can everything be done under the truck? I have a group of leaks in my dana 20; I'd rather not even look at that end until I have a full day dedicated to holing up each one of them.

 

[pipeline010]

the front of the shaft looks much worse in the pic than in real life. it's solid up there with no play at all. the looseness is definitely at the rear of the shaft at the ujoint.

 

[tirewater]

I suppose if you had the right tools you could do it with one end still attached. That said, from the look of your driveshaft you may as well remove it and rebuild the entire thing.

 

[pipeline010]

I suppose if you had the right tools you could do it with one end still attached. That said, from the look of your driveshaft you may as well remove it and rebuild the entire thing.

All in time.

I removed the rear clips and dropped the shaft but the ujoint is fighting me.

To pull the whole shaft do I have to remove hardware at the front end? I thought with rear free the front is supposed to just slide out. Or maybe I need to shock it a bit?

 

[Joe473]

All in time.

I removed the rear clips and dropped the shaft but the ujoint is fighting me.

To pull the whole shaft do I have to remove hardware at the front end? I thought with rear free the front is supposed to just slide out. Or maybe I need to shock it a bit?

You need to remove the bolts. There is no slip joint on the rear shaft into the trans. Remove clips there is a slip joint on the shaft in middle. Dont let this come apart and mark both ends so if it does u jeep it phased the same and balanced.

Use a vise, some sockets and pretty quick out of the truck. Sometimes you need a press if they are in there good. Get the spicer non greaseable ones from napa.


Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[pipeline010]

thanks Joe.

sorry I'm being dumb, but not totally following you.

On the rear part of shaft (connected to pumpkin) I have the shaft hanging; it broke apart right at the joint, shaft on one side (with ujoint) and the rest attached to the pumpkin still. Should those have slid out together?

I did mark the shaft to the rear metal piece, so I do know how they reconnect if I have the pull the rear part.

Now to the t-case side...which bolts need to be removed to get the whole shaft removed? The real greased ones in the pic above?

Last Q: is it possible to simply separate the slip from the end of the driveshaft? If I could slide that out this would be a breeze.

Thanks guys.

 

[bmc69]

thanks Joe.

sorry I'm being dumb, but not totally following you.

On the rear part of shaft (connected to pumpkin) I have the shaft hanging; it broke apart right at the joint, shaft on one side (with ujoint) and the rest attached to the pumpkin still. Should those have slid out together?

I did mark the shaft to the rear metal piece, so I do know how they reconnect if I have the pull the rear part.

Now to the t-case side...which bolts need to be removed to get the whole shaft removed? The real greased ones in the pic above?

Last Q: is it possible to simply separate the slip from the end of the driveshaft? If I could slide that out this would be a breeze.

Thanks guys.

Yes, you can remove the seal collar on the slip joint and slide that end off. Depending on whether it's the original cap (threaded) or a newer replacement style (press-on with locking lip), that might be hard or harder. You could also take the 5 minutes it takes to pull the four small bolts that hold the DC to the yoke on the transfer case and drop the whole driveshaft.

 

[pipeline010]

Yes, you can remove the seal collar on the slip joint and slide that end off. Depending on whether it's the original cap (threaded) or a newer replacement style (press-on with locking lip), that might be hard or harder. You could also take the 5 minutes it takes to pull the four small bolts that hold the DC to the yoke on the transfer case and drop the whole driveshaft.

message received thanks. I've always gotta do thing the hard way until I figure it all out. I'll try to locate the correct bolts and pull the shaft.

 

[DirtDonk]

Agree with all that's been said. If the t-case is in neutral it can be hard to hold the shaft while turning the bolts, but it's much easier to spin the shaft to get to each of the four bolt heads that are facing rearward and kind of trying to hide from you.

And it is definitely easier to do on the ground.
Removing the rear will also let you clean and grease the two rear joints AND the extra grease fitting on the centering ball of the central yoke area. It might be hidden under gunk, but it's there and you should get one of the little adapters for your grease gun to fit the female fitting.

U-joints (or "cardans") do not come out willingly or easily until you know how and have done it once or twice. They do not just come out after you remove the clips. They are in fact pressed-in at least lightly. But usually fairly firmly. If you can ever pull one out by hand, the yoke (the part it presses into) is toast or the joint is the wrong size.

To get one out, you need either a press, or a fairly large vise (small is ok for some, but large cars and truck sizes need a goodly sized vise), or best for me is a big hammer and some fittings (usually big sockets) to receive the parts that you're trying to press out.
Some don't like the hammer method, but works great for me.

Good luck!

Paul

 

[pipeline010]

OK, thanks all. coming to the end of this simple for all y'all project and PITA for me. I promise I'm only an idiot at everything 1x; the first time.

Last question. How in the world do I re-attach the shaft?!

I removed it by ripping apart the previous ujoint, so obviously wasn't the correct way. Should that shaft on the differential just slide out (maybe with a little bang bang)? or more bolts need to be removed?

sorry for sideways pic.

 

[pipeline010]

.......or is the correct way to bring the shaft in so its shorter and fits? i hope its not that as my shaft seems to have no play. (Keep in mind I have little understanding of how all these pieces are assembled)....

 

[DirtDonk]

That looks strange. The slip-joint is extended way out (you can see very old wear marks where it used to be more compressed) but it looks like your suspension is at ride height?
How much is the rig lifted, suspension-wise? And is the suspension in it's normal position, or is it extended out, perhaps from the frame being on stands? Looks normal height to me, but wanted to ask because your shaft should reach the rear diff yoke easily with half of that amount of shaft showing on the slip section.

The slip yoke can be stiff/stuck if it's extended all the way and the splines have anchored themselves into the seal. Or if it's rusted solid too of course.
But the two halves should move easily in and out by hand otherwise.

And it should easily reach the rear end unless it's too short and the suspension is extended.

When you put things back together, don't overtighten the nuts at the rear diff either. The front bolts can be tight, as they thread into the yoke itself and don't compress the joint's chrome looking thingy (bearing end cap).
But the rear joint at the differential is very easy to overtighten and damage. I think the two u-bolts and the nuts with lockwashers should only be torqued to something like 10-14lbs or something like that. I'm sure someone will remember the exact amount.
Many a new u-joint has had it's life shortened by over-tightening.

Paul

 

[pipeline010]

It's a 2.5 SL, old rubber bushing style body mounts.

Tried it both ways, bolting the front in first, then removing and bolting the rear in first. just no space to fit the sucker.

any advice to make an adjustment to get this guy back in there??

 

[pipeline010]

I think the suspension lift is rather recent, so maybe the shaft was extended at that time?

how do I compress it to make it fit? or is that something only a shop can do?

looks like I need 1-2 inches max to get it in there, but then I may need to let it out another inch to make the fit just right...

 

[pipeline010]

Oh geez, Paul you've got an optical illusion on that Pic!

the shaft is TOO LONG, not too short. in that image it appears to short, it isn't.

I can't fit it back into place because it's loo LONG. lol.

 

[pipeline010]

last spam message. sorry. any tips for getting that shaft moving again? spots to grease, places to hit it properly with my purse?

 

[DirtDonk]

Compress, or extend? Is it too short (as it appears in the pic), or too long?
Either way, if the slip yoke is not slipping, you can't put it in until you fix that.

How was it in there in the first place, if it's not the correct length now? When you unbolted it, did it literally pop out with a bang? Or did you have to wedge it out a bit after removing the u-bolts?
The shaft looks dry anyway, which means that the slip shaft has not been greased in ages. Look for the zerk fitting and make sure it has one.
But the bottom line is, if it's stuck, un-stick it.

You can take groove-joint pliers (Channel-Locks) and unscrew that grease cap at the top of the short lower section, then perhaps separate the two halves if they're not totally stuck at this point.
You may have to smack the shaft against the pavement (not too hard!) to get it to compress at the joint. Then separate the two halves, clean the splines and grooves and re-grease the entire affair.
Re-assemble and make it work.

A 2.5" suspension should not have any negative effect on the length of the driveshaft as long as the rear pinion angle is not out of whack.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Ok, I see you answered the question before I asked it. Had to run off half-way through the last reply.

So you need to do what I described and try to re-compress it and re-lube it.

Paul

 

[broncochevy]

If it’s too long, it needs to be compressed. May need a little persuasion, rubber mallet. Sometimes they get air or something in there making them seem stuck in that position. There should be 5 grease points on the shaft. Someone earlier on page 1 explained the other end close to the t case very well, and as they said you will need an adapter to lube the female fitting, reason is there isn’t room in the constant velocity joint as it’s called to have a full fitting. It would break off during rotation. The end next to the pumpkin is good for 2 fittings. One is the joint you changed, if it is non serviceable, then there may be no zerk there. Same for the other 2 u joints on the tcase end, btw. The second, assuming there was a first, is on the shaft itself and I believe dirt donk explained very well.

 

[pipeline010]

thanks a ton Paul.

So what I'm hearing is I need to get the slip shaft OFF, grease the whole thing and the interior of the main shaft. then shove it back in?

or better off laying grease on the shaft THEN trying to back it to get it to compress?

--

the PO installed the suspension lift about 2 years or so before I got it. He definitely didn't over-tighten the rear u bolts, then were very easy to get off.