FRONT AXEL U-JOINTS
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Joined: Sep 2004
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From: WestVa
RE: FRONT AXEL U-JOINTS
OK, Got the U-joints replaced after a few diversions and holdups.
If the hubs have never been removed, then they most certainly will be a PIA because of rust. I broke a stout 1/2 in breaker bar trying to free the HUB bolts (1 11/16) from the hub. I went to Sears and picked up a 3/4 18 inch slide breaker bar and a 4 foot length of steel pipe to force the issue. The 3 9/16 12 point bolts holding the hub the the wheel housing went with much less effort.
Next fun part was freeing the hub from its home in the housing. This was the hardest part despite soaking these with PB. Big hammer, air chisel and hand held chisels coached these off but trashed the sheet metal brake cooling shrouds in the process.
Replacing the u-joints was routine, and I used a BFH and various sized OLD SOCKETS to hammer these out of the yokes without damage to the yokes.
Once everything was apart , I used a dremel and sanding disks to clean the rust off of the housing , yokes, and hub and ground any nicks and burrs off for a flat surface.
I used anti-sieze when re-assembling and things went together very easy. Since the shields were trashed, I left them off and used RTV copper on the hub to housing to help seal out water, dirt or things, and even though most of it was squeezed out by all the torque being applied to the 3 bolts, it still left a good seal around the mated surfaces. I will need to replace the shields, but I plan to replace the hubs later this year when I have more time to do so. They weren't bad, but have seen the better of days.
If the hubs have never been removed, then they most certainly will be a PIA because of rust. I broke a stout 1/2 in breaker bar trying to free the HUB bolts (1 11/16) from the hub. I went to Sears and picked up a 3/4 18 inch slide breaker bar and a 4 foot length of steel pipe to force the issue. The 3 9/16 12 point bolts holding the hub the the wheel housing went with much less effort.
Next fun part was freeing the hub from its home in the housing. This was the hardest part despite soaking these with PB. Big hammer, air chisel and hand held chisels coached these off but trashed the sheet metal brake cooling shrouds in the process.
Replacing the u-joints was routine, and I used a BFH and various sized OLD SOCKETS to hammer these out of the yokes without damage to the yokes.
Once everything was apart , I used a dremel and sanding disks to clean the rust off of the housing , yokes, and hub and ground any nicks and burrs off for a flat surface.
I used anti-sieze when re-assembling and things went together very easy. Since the shields were trashed, I left them off and used RTV copper on the hub to housing to help seal out water, dirt or things, and even though most of it was squeezed out by all the torque being applied to the 3 bolts, it still left a good seal around the mated surfaces. I will need to replace the shields, but I plan to replace the hubs later this year when I have more time to do so. They weren't bad, but have seen the better of days.
