Well I had a delay in progress. After work I picked up my other two u-joints, came home and laid down cardboard in the garage. I like to use cardboard on the garage floor when I am underneath my truck, it soaks up anything I might spill on the floor and it provides a bit of cushioning for my back. I chocked the front wheels and put the rears up on my Rhino Ramps. To me, the ramps are more secure than jack stands and plus they will keep the rear wheels from rotating or moving so I can index the driveshaft and get it re-installed in exactly the same orientation as it came out.

Anyway when I set the left rear tire down on the Rhino Ramp what did I see but a big ole nail in the tire..Looks like a roofing nail with a big head on it. So I decided to take the truck down and put the spare on and take the tire with the nail in it to the shop down the street tomorrow morning and get it patched. I just hope they can patch it, the hole is right in the middle of the inside tread. It may be a bit too close to the sidewall for a patch.

I will start on it again tomorrow after work. I am taking pictures along the way and when I am done I will either put them on this thread or just post a new, how-to thread. Not trying to be cocky but there really are not any threads out there that are specific to a Dakota u-joint replacement. Maybe it might help someone else out if I post how I did it.

Jimmy

 

That's because there's nothing special about Dakota u-joints, compared to pretty much any other truck.

FWIW, I've replaced dozens of u-joints with a couple of sockets and a vise as a "press". I've never screwed one up and I don't think I've ever spent more than a few minutes changing one, either (after removing the driveshaft).

 

My vise is too small to use to press u-joints out or in. It will be useful in supporting the driveshaft though. That ball joint/u-joint tool I rented should do the trick once I get the u-joints loosened up a bit with Aero Kroil.

Jimmy

 

If it's the same tool I've used for ball joints (big c-clamp looking thing), it should work fine, even without the Kroil. That thing is a beast.

 

Sounds like the same tool I rented. This is the one I got:

P1010100.jpg

It cost $100.00 to rent it but I can keep it as long as I need it and Advance will refund the $100.00 back to my credit card when I return it. I believe it will do the trick.

Jimmy

 

Yup, that will do the trick. I found that the easiest way to use it is to clamp the "C" in the vise, open side up, so you don't have to hold so many things at once.

 

Tom, you are right, that tool is a beast. It popped the rusted u-joints out like it was nothing. Today after work I removed the drive shaft. It really was not that hard but I could not break loose the 2 bolts that hold the center support bearing in place. I tried to loosen the nuts on the bottom side of the cross member where the center support is mounted, and they would not come loose either. I tore one of the nuts up pretty badly and finally just cut it off with a 4" cutoff wheel. Then I chiseled the rest of the nut off and will just use another nut and bolt to reattach the center support on that side. I tried the other nut on the cross member, it would not come loose either. I hit it a few times with my impact wrench, still no go. Then I looked closer at the "nut". It is welded to the cross member...no wonder it would not come loose. Then I tried a wrench on the bolt above, it came right out very easily. I guess the impact wrench loosened things up a bit. The nut on that side is still intact so I can re-use it when the time comes. I should have looked at the nuts more closely.

Removing the drive shaft was fairly easy. I set it up in the bed of the truck and am using the tailgate as a work bench to R&R the u-joints. With the rear wheels on Rhino Ramps the tail gate is just above waist high so it works fine to support the drive shaft. I removed the front u-joint and trunnion very easily with that tool. I did not even need my vise. But it sure is a lot easier to install the new u-joint with the vise holding the tool. I screwed my vise to a piece of 2x10 I had in the garage and set that up on the tailgate to hold the tool while I pressed in the new caps. The vise made it very easy to do once I got the hang of using the tool to press in the new caps. I could slide the 2x10 around to line up with the drive shaft as it lay in the truck bed. I got the one u-joint all installed in about a half hour. I hope the others are a bit easier now that I know how the tool works. The tool made a couple of popping sounds as I pressed in one of the caps. I hope that is normal. The u-joint and trunnion all move and spin as smooth as glass when I move it around by hand.

I expected to see crushed bits of the needle bearings when I took the caps off the old u-joint. The one I replaced tonight was the one that had slung grease up on the bottom of the bed. I did not see any crushed bearings or rust dust in the old caps. They must lose their grease first and then the rust and powdered bearings happens. I sure hope the u-joint is the cause of the vibration, but I guess at 152K it is best to replace them anyway. I plan on getting the other 2 u-joints done tomorrow night and being done with the entire job on Saturday.

Thanks for your info on this.

Jimmy

 

Glad to hear the job is going mostly as planned. It seems like that almost never happens, lol.

 

Its funny that you do all that work but you never plugged a tire.

 

I hope you marked the driveshaft and the yoke on the diff before you took them apart. the drive shaft will definitely vibrate if its 180 degrees out glad to hear things went good. I have done one of those centre support berrings what a pain.