Just did an oil change and while looking things over, I noticed my passenger side U-Joint has a fair bit of play in it. In 2 days, I'm leaving for a 3000 km road trip (all highway driving). Must I get this replaced before heading out? It's not making noise, but I've been in 2wd all summer. I don't think I'd do it myself 'cause I don't want the headache at this point.

 

If you have $45 dollars for parts, the right tools, and 3 hours, it a breeze. Just did mine last week and it was no problem even with all the rust I have. As far as the necessity...I claim to be no expert but I definitely noticed an improvement in my steering. I did both and the slight drift I had even after an alignment went away.

Which raises a good question, why didn't the god damn tire people tell me about this issue. I'm actually surprised they didn't try to get more money out of me by suggesting it.

Back to the point though...depending how badly worn they are, you run the risk of warping the "U's" if you will. I dunno the real name but the parts the the joint connects may need to be replaced if you wait. And the kicker, like in my case...you may find you need to do bearings/hubs as well. So weigh your options and bank account cuz hubs are $100 a piece minimum...

Hope this helps

 

the axle turns all the time, in both 2wd and 4wd. the play has probably been developing for awhile. 3000km is about.... 1800 mile. pretty far.

is the seal intact, and all the needle bearings still in place?

odds are 80% you'll complete your trip without a failure. does that make you feel better or worse.

 

if you do go ahead and change the u joint then you should plan on replacing the axle seal while you're at it if you have a lot of miles on your truck. i changed my driver side u joint and when i put it back together i found out that my seal was leaking. then while changing that seal i changed my passenger u joint and after getting the axle back together i found that my passenger seal was leaking.

also, if you do the work yourself then get yourself a good penetrating fluid like CRC Knock'er Loose, Cyclo Breakaway, or AeroKroil (Kroil oil made by kano labs). don't waste your time with pb blaster, wd 40 or liquid wrench. saturate the hub nut, the bolts on the back of the hub, the caliper bracket bolts and the seam where the hub meets the spindle. if you spray those parts and tap on them for 5 seconds each, spray and tap again right after the first spray then let it sit for a half hour or so and spray and tap again then everything will come apart easily.
you'll need a 1 11/16th socket for the hub nut, 14mm 12 point for the bolts that hold the hub on, i believe a 21mm for the caliper bracket bolts and a 3/4" drive breaker bar with a 3 foot piece of pipe for a cheater bar.

hub removal
http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/hub.php

axle seal, just read the very bottom paragraph.
http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/axleseal.php

 

Well the shops here want $220 to change out the u-joint. Guess I'll take a gamble and go on the trip and replace it myself when I get home. Looks like the U-Joint seals are intact; how would I tell if all the needle bearings are in place? God damn u-Joint has only 60,000 km (40,000 miles) on it.

Yeah Sheriff, replacing the axle seal would be a good idea, too. They never seem to last too long in this truck either. The links will be my service manual, so thanks for those. What does CAD stand for in reference to the front end? Will the box end of a wrench (12pt) work for the 14mm hub bolts?

 

a wrench should work, as long as it can handle 125 + ft. lbs of torque without breaking.

when you get the new u joints in, give the yokes a light smack with a hammer to seat the caps so there won't be any binding between the needle bearings and the caps.

cad means central axle disconnect, its on the right side of the axle looking at it from the back, it is the unit with the vacuum lines and the wire plugged into it.

you should put anti seize on the hub to spindle contact points, hub to stub shaft splines and the hub nut so you can get it apart easily when the u joint fails again.

before you put the rotor back on clean it with brake cleaner. i made the mistake of not cleaning the penetrating fluid off when i put mine back together and it felt like i was stopping in mud until i cleaned it up and hit the rotor and the pads with some fine sandpaper.

when putting everything back together the torque is:
hub nut - 175 ft. lbs
hub bolts - 125 ft. lbs.
caliper bracket - 130 ft. lbs.
cad unit bolts - 96 inch lbs.

 

Well I tackled the job yesterday and after reading all the DIY links and advice, the task went over fairly well. I'll offer a bit of advice to others as well.

1) The hub bolts that people say to replace with "sacrificial" bolts to beat on are very hard to find. I went to 8 bolt supply stores and no one had 'em. They are metric bolts M14x1.5x100mm. The dealership wanted $40 each for them! Instead, after loosening all 3 bolts, I put my 12pt socket on each one individually and beat on it. It worked well. Bolts are still fine. If people don't like that idea, I suggest buying/ordering the proper bolts well in advance of doing the job.

2) The axle seal is a HUGE PITA to seat. I realize it needs to be a tight fit in the axle tube, but mine was rediculously tight. I tried the slide hammer thing with ready rod, but that wasn't nearly enough oomph. After f&^#king up one seal, I made a seal puller. I have attached a picture of it. The "washer" is made of 3/16 plate with a diameter of exactly 2-3/8" to fit inside the axle tube, yet still contact the outer edge of the seal. The outer plate is 7x7x3/16 to fit over the opening in the knuckle. Definitely a 2 person job.

3) After coating every mating surface with never-seize, it should come apart very easily next time.

Edit: Says I'm excedding my quota when I try to post the pic.

 

i'm glad i live in the south. i didn't have to hit either hub when i took them out. i gave everything a couple shots of knock'er loose before i did the job and the hub pulled right out with ease.
i actually pulled the driver hub out with the axle still in it before i realized that i should have pulled the hub then the axle. after i got it out the axle slid right out of the hub.

the slide hammer i made was threaded rod with washers on both ends and tape around the threads on the seal end to keep from chewing up the seal. i had a 5lb sledge hammer head as the hammer part and my dad was doing the hitting while i made sure the seal was lined up and told him when to stop hitting it. i also had the hub nut socket in the outer end of the axle tube with the threaded rod going through it so that it would stay centered.

 

FYI, there's a glossary Sticky at the top of this forum with definitions and explanations of many of the terms and acronyms you'll come across in here.

 

Hi there,
Im hoping this same procedure will work on a 98' 2500 4x4 v10? I'm pretty sure this truck has ABS. So is there any worries about the ABS when i remove the axle?

Thanks in advance!!