Good point. Note too self farm out u-joint work lol

 

Yeah I thought the front joint was one of those non serviceable/replaceable joint. Been a while since I have been under there.

 

Mark and RH,

When I said "warm" the joint, I'm meaning to the point of just being able to handle it
Literally, warm---not so hot that the plastic burns. It can be done cold, but a hammer and vice is what it took me to do it cold.

Its a good idea to do the double cardigan too on the other end of the front driveline while you're there. If you think the diff end is a major PIA, wait until you do this one.
There's a small spring loaded ball you have to contend with, while you're slipping the yokes into place to set the caps. Took me 5 tries before it all lined up just right.

No beers during this one, might end up getting thown through one of the garage windows.

 

Yea I was thinking about doing the whole thing while its out of the truck. Ill see how much motivation I have after getting the front done. I borrowed a nice big vice yesterday, heading out to mount it now and will give it a go later on today.

 

While holding the driveshaft in a vice is great use a ball joint tool to press the ujoint out it works much easier. Rent it down at an autoparts store.

 

Sorry did not get back to the forums until now! We had a couple of nice days around here so Ive been out working, now the rains back so here i am in the office. Finally was able to get back to the Ujoint project. The hardest part was taking the shaft off the the truck actually! After failing miserably to press the ujoint out with a vice....i decided to go with my old standby of heat it and beat it. Couple of crappy sockets and a 5 lb lump hammer did the trick nicely! Put everything back in the truck and thanks to the stripe tip no vibrations and everything is back to normal. $25 dollars and a few hours, not too bad. Probably would have ran me at least $1,200 at the shop! Thanks for all the tips, ill get some photos of my setup on here over the next few days.