If you have a bolt with a shoulder on the head..... put a socket on it, and an extension, start the motor, and turn the wheel such that the extension jams against an immovable object, and applies pressure to the bolt. Might get it to break loose that way. Keep in mind, can be hazardous to your health though... if the extension slips, it can shoot out at pretty high velocity.

 

Task complete. Corrosion and rust biggest enemy but soaked every thing down and kept spraying everything down as i was getting movement out of the hub housing. Thanks for all the help!

 

Coolness.

 

One of the surfaces on the universal was rusted and the cap bearings just fell apart after beating on it.
I used wire brush on all the surfaces that had corrosion and rust. Then took some 220 sandpaper to all the same surfaces.
Then I sprayed them all down once more with penetrating oil and assembled.

One thing I am going to invest in is a press and long overdue.

I also have original mopar shocks and probably will be next weekends project.
104k miles on them.

 

Glad you got it fixed!

I bought a press bacck inthe summer when rebuilding tranny....don't know how I made it so many years without one! And the shocks on my 99 were factory original also! Why is it that people don't change these?

 

Ya having functional 4wd in the Pacific Northwest is a must where we live.

I only replaced the bad one. Will probably do the other when weather warms up. We only have a single car garage and do not have the room to work so I have to do the repairs outside in the driveway.

Brake pads are at about 40% so I think that is going to be priority next week.

 

If you bought greasable u-joints, make sure u grease them. Or those lil bearings wont last long in there.

I got a special tool for u-joints that absolutely rocks. I don't remember exactly what kind of semi tranny it came out of, but it's a 12-14 inch section of output shaft, used for lining up trannys before bolting to the motor. At least that's what i was told. Well, the end of this shaft has a nipple on it, that fits perfectly into the holes on the axle yoke. That accompanied with my 8 lb. BFH makes u-joints a pretty simple operation. And the tool itself is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, making it a easy target, so no hand smashing occurs. I'll get a pic of it sometime.

Glad you got your popping sound located and repaired. I've noticed on mine and a buddies ram though, that when the front driver side or front passenger side u-joint goes out, the opposing u-joint usually isn't too far behind. Make sure you check the other one out when u do those brakes.

 

I checked the other an seems to be in good shape. No clicking, crunching or bad noises. Still going to replace it soon anyway.
The U-joint I bought did not have zerk fitting to lube. I did however, put a dab of grease in each bearing cup before assembly. Factory had some in there but wanted more for piece of mind.

I don't take my truck mudding, bogging of hammer it hard. I need it for towing my travel trailer during summer to camp grounds and my daily driver.
I can't afford to have it broke down a lot.

 

The part you are talking about is the input shaft for the tranny or else the tool that they use to line up the clutch plates as they are bolting it up to the flywheel. The "nipple" is actually the pilot bearing that keeps the input shaft from moving under load.

That would make a great tool for u-joints. I might have to talk to the company I drive for to see if they have any that are no good for use in a transmission.

 

Yeah, that's it. Has been a long while since father-in-law told me what it was, but not only is it heavy and solid, when smacked with a heavy, short handled sledge, it makes quick work of some u-joints. I've fought with lining up presses and sockets to pop the caps, and it kinda sucks, and is not to mention dangerous when things aren't lined up perfectly. Just have to be careful with the input shaft tool, and get it lined up right, or it'll dent/ bang up the yoke. Otherwise, very handy.