front steering u joints
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Professional
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: Indiana
yeah, i know those are a pita to get out i made sure to soak those good, maybe theyll come out easy maybe they wont, if they wont ill use sockets and press them out in the bench vice
Legend
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 8,259
Likes: 4
From: Austin, TX
i went out and soaked everything in pb blaster i plan to do it again about wednesday, and then friday evening, im trying to find a 1 11/16 socket for the hub nut that i can borrow, i think ill try to use a pretty big impact to get it off because it looks as if it has never been taken off and is pretty rusted... that got soaked with pb blaster too
O'Reiley's and Autozone have loaner tools. They should have a socket for that.
Legend
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 8,259
Likes: 4
From: Austin, TX
Hub sockets and such are considered specialty tools. Check with them tomorrow. My AZ had them when I worked on my RV and also BIL's CV joints and drive axles.
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 87,397
Likes: 4,213
From: Clayton MI
I like to break the axle nuts loose before I even take the tire off. (truck still on the ground.) I can use my 3/4 drive ratchet, and a five foot breaker bar, and simply stand, and bounce on it, till they break loose. Once they crack, they come off easy....
Champion
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,868
Likes: 434
From: Central VA
I replaced mine not too long ago and they were a real pain to remove, since this truck was once used as a snow plow truck. The U-joint caps were rusted in place. I tried hammering them out, but ended up using my 20 ton press to get them out. Once I got them out, I noticed that I had slightly bent the outer yoke and the new U-joints wouldn't install properly. I ended up beating the outer yoke with a brass hammer on a piece of wooded board to straighten it up. The U-joints installed fine after that. As others have mentioned, I also swapped out the hub bearings (as they were shot), the brake rotor splash shields (rusted out) and the inner driveshaft seals. I also cleaned, anti-siezed and painted the parts to make replacement easier next time, if needed. My center nut came off pretty easily with a 3/4" impact, but it appeared that it had been removed previously.
