I was installing new u-joints and on the last one (of course) I lost some needle bearings and didnt know until it was too late. Basically I got both caps on and while hammering it all tight one cap went a little crooked and dug into the wall on the drive shaft side. If it were on the yoke side I could simply get a new yoke. Now the drive shaft is bugger'd. Oh, and I cant get the caps off enough to get the u joint out. I have a half intalled u-joint where the caps wont go in or out.

Any advice. I need to be up and running asap.
As of now looks like I will be taking the shaft to a shop.

Note:
BE CAREFUL WHILE USING A LARGE HAMMER!!!

 

Cut the universal (not the yoke) in half with a torch or use a grinder or cutoff tool.
Then you only have to press against one cup at a time.

 

drill, torch, chisel, whatever the cap out. try real hard not to do any additional damage to the yoke. once the bad u-joint is out, gently file out any offending burrs in the yoke. you can likely reuse it with no problem. don't worry about any gouges, but do remove any burrs that will interfere with the installation of the new cap.

i've do this too....

 

as stated above all those ways are good and i have had good luck using ball joint press to get the u joints out as well.

 

Thanks for the advice fellas.
I took it to a u-joint shop (Texas U-Joint, in Fort Worth, I will use them from now on and recommend thier supurb service). An hour and $35 bucks later I had the old one removed and a new spicer unit intsalled. Well worth the money after a day of frustration.

 

I would have done the cutting off deal myself but at least you didn't get raked over the coals for what they did for you.

 

While I commend you for knowing your limits and taking it to a shop, it bugs me when people come on here and ask for advice on how to fix something. Then write a post later on saying, "oh, I ended up taking it to a mechanic..." What the hell...

 

Appologies. Once I asked for advice is when I realized it was 'beyond my tool capacity' (no cut off wheel, torch, ect.)

In actuallity, the advice was helpful in showing me what to do next time I screw up and happen to have a torch. And, for example, even if there is a gouge, its still ok to use the yoke, ect. And, maybe someone else is in the same boat.......

If it could have been fixed with monkey blood and a big hammer, then I wouldnt have taken it in, seeing that I have those tools.

 

Understood...