Take them to a part store that has a press

 

you can do it yourself but those u joints are tough i tried to do mine with a vise and after an hour of wrestling them i took them to a shop they took thirty minutes and only charged me 30 bucks to do it

 

Don't take it to a shop.

Easy way is to get rent or buy if you want a ball joint press. They look like a C clamp and have a hole in one end that the cap will slide through. Put the other end on the opposite cap and start craking it down. Use some PB Blaster first too. It'll pop right out.

If you don't want to do that get a socket thats big enough for the cap to fit in. Put it on the floor/work bench, then put the shaft on top of it. Get a smaller socket that is smaller then the cap (so It'll be able to fit inside the ears on the shaft) and start pounding the crap out of it. You usually really have to give them some good wacks until it breaks free, then its a bit easier. Useing a vice to press them in is the easiest. Put a bunch of greese in the caps to hole the needles in place, if one falls over when you press it back together you'll have to take whole thing back out so you can reposition the needle.

 

All done. Thanks for your help guys. I ended up using a combonation of the pounding and a c-clamp. Eventually they pop out. All back together and working great! One side of the old U-Joint had zero neddle bearings left inside. Thanks again.

 

looks like im next for that repair.. im getting a clicking noise like metal on metal from my front right wheel. must be the u-joint because it slows down and speeds up with the speed of the truck. and it only clicks when i go straight.. when i turn the wheel and put pressure on the u-joint it doesnt

 

Yep, thats the same sound I had this winter when my driver side u-joint went bad. Same sound only when driving straight and speeds and and slows down accordint to the movement of the truck. I didnt want to mess with doing the job myself so I ended up taking it in to a shop and having them do it. Plus its been cold up here and I dont want to mess with that outside in the elements.

 

I need to do my u joints too. Are they any replacement u joints that are better/worse than others? I don't off-road every weekend but I do recognize the value of quality parts.

 

well i got my right wheel and brake rotor/caliber off.. along with the 3 9/16's bolts.. now i just need a bigger hammer lol

 

hello
i am new here and i just purchased a 1997 dodge ram 1500 extended cab 4X4 short bed and i too have just replaced the front axle ujoints

i have tip for those of you out there for getting the hub and bearing out ,
take a deepwell socket and thread one of the mounting bolts into the bearing a few threads then leave the deepsocket on the bolt and start the truck up and turn the steering wheel all the way to the lock position and it will pop the bearing right out without damaging it
just turn the wheel in the right direction so that the socket will end up pushing against the axle housing


do this and you say bye bye to the BFH method

 

when i did mine, i just put the puller on it, tightened it real good, and pryed it off by sticking a screwdriver between the bearing and the spindle.