U-Joint Delima? Qick/good answer needed...

[4X50 Exploder]

Bullet proofing the U-Joints.

Thanks to 4x4junkie for the tips on Bomb proofing your 4WD Front Axle U-joints @ http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/May06/dana35_ujoint_snapring.htm !

When I went to follow your steps, I found that the head of my 4" angle grinder would not let me reach in there to remove the material. Taking it to the 8" bench grinder let me reach in there and remove the material in a very controlled manor, taking it down very close to my finished grind.

Before I started to grind away, I painted the ends black so it was very apparent where the material was coming off. Once I got close to the amount removed that I wanted, I shifted to a hand file and Dremel.

The black paint made it obvious that the factory grind had some serious low spots in the seating area for the snap ring. Using the hand file, I smoothed them out to a happy medium not wanting to remove too much material to get them perfect.

Your Mod was very helpful, for just $1.00 per joint and about ten minutes worth of work; this should be a part of anyone’s procedure when they replace their U-Joints...

Thanks for sharing all the tips that you have...

 

[4x4junkie]

Glad I could help

 

[4X50 Exploder]

Exploding bearing cap?

All right, I am starting to feel like I dropped the soap on this one…

Pressing the bearing cups into the first yoke went smooth like butter. The second one had a lot more resistance on one of them and ended up blowing off one of the ends! I had one snap ring on and was trying to get enough clearance for the last snap ring when it blew off the end. This is not rocket science and it has me SO P.O.! What am I doing wrong?

This is not the same point that was like this when I took the axle out. I will re-attempt the install this weekend. Would it hurt to lube the inside of the yoke and freeze the U-Joint before trying to press them in again?

 

[4x4junkie]

Dang! You must really be cranking down on that press hard

If the joint wouldn't go all the way in to where you could put the clip on, chances are good you either had one of the needle bearings fall down into the cap as you were putting it on, or you bent the axle yoke ears while pressing the old joint out.

 

[94fourdoor]

Subscribing... Best of luck to you, 4X50!

 

[4X50 Exploder]

Momma told me there would be days like this...

chances are good you either had one of the needle bearings fall down...

The end that did not blow out had a needle bearing that looked like it had been shredded into slivers, length wise...

Took the new U-Joint out of the freezer and it pressed in like butter... May sound silly but this is what I hate about doing this work myself. It really burns my A$$ to tear up a good part because of my ignorance! Now I have to wait till the 6th to buy a new one.

I guess I have to get over it and know that wasting $20 was cheaper than having it done, I got the modified strength of the full snap rings plus a lesson I will not forget...

I discovered a great time saver while I was at this. Using a 3/4" extension and various SAE sockets, as the receiver, for my cheap press made life a lot easier. The extension took the place of a second set of hands while trying to line everything up... Freezing the U-Joint let them press in so much easier too...