So I decided I would replace the bad rear u-joint on my truck this weekend. Seemed pretty straight forward. Crawled underneath and realized it wouldn't be nearly as easy as I thought. The u-joint had been bad long enough that it lost the bearings, shifted, and dug itself into the axle yoke, which I now need to replace too. What is the best and/or easiest way to replace the axle yoke? It's a '96 2wd with a 2 piece drive shaft.

 

Haynes may have saved me again, lmao.

 

DAMN, that is sick. I have never seen one so bad. Your lucky it didn't fall apart on you.

By your 2nd post it sounds like you got it done. It is very straight forward. Remove the strap bolts. In your case you may have to pry it off after that. Then use a 33mm socket and an impact wrench to knock off the yoke. Tap off the yoke with a punch and hammer.

Don't forget to replace the oil seal. In your pic you need one. It should be under $10. The yoke you can buy new from www.ringpinion.com or your local dealer. I say head out the junkyard to get a good used one. Or www.craigslist.org

 

It's not done yet, but I found out how to do it. After I looked at the pictures I noticed how bad that oil seal is, so yeah it's getting replaced too. As for the yoke, there is a Dakota in the corner of the junkyard I like that I pull parts from. After I get the yoke out I will take a picture of that too.

 

WoW! That thing must have been really making some noise!

So far I've managed to drop both front and rear driveshafts on my 85 D350! They'll give you warning before they go out! I didn't listen the the warning! The rear one there was a viberation and I thought it was the road.... NOPE!

The front I didn't get the bolts tight enough.......I hung the driveshaft with a wire or something to keep it from draging.

With both I was able to drive home.

 

DakotaMizery, that truck must have been vibrating real bad! ! !

 

Yeah it was shaking pretty bad. Since it was in such bad shape it caused some damage to the other two u-joints and the carrier bearing, all of which is getting replaced. I also noticed I had a little trans fluid coming out of the housing seal, so I'm replacing that while I have the drive shaft out. Then I'm changing the trans filter, it could use it. My truck won't feel the same when I'm done.

 

Well, I learned a hard lesson today. Replace your u-joints as soon as they go out. This has been a nightmare project. I've been working really hard all day and all I have to show for it is an empty wallet, broken tools, strained muscles, and anger at my truck. I know it's sitting there laughing at me. The u-joint caps are rusted into the yokes. Broke a socket, broke a screwdriver, almost broke my vise, and I haven't been able to get a single one to budge.

 

If you don't have any heat, the one other solution would be penetrate, penetrate, penetrate. Don't forget when you replace the rear trans seal, be very careful that you don't damage it. Good Luck

 

Did you remember to take the c-clips off?

FWIW I've found that a U-joint press has a lot more power than a vise.