hovisimo

not real thrilled, I grease them regularly and bought Spicers because they were supposed to be better than the sealed OEM joints. drivers side one started clicking and had 1/8" of play in it. half of the joint wasn't getting any grease.



they have a 1 year/12,000 miles warranty, I had them installed when I bought the truck 2 years ago, lol awesome, see if I ever buy another Spicer product ever again. they didn't even return an email about warranty, auto parts store gave me the details on their warranty.



that's a Precision joint. the Spicer in the passenger side doesn't appear to be getting any grease to half of it either. can't wait to do the other side. the Spicers were $40 each, Precisions are $57. this is a fun repair, try it sometime.

johnh

the best way to go with U joints is OEM sealed, mine are still going at 236000 miles.....in the past I've bought greasable U joints that did not have the grese hole all the way through,probably spicer. china was not in the market at the time

powderman426

I also thought that changing u joints was a lot of fun (NOT). That was until yesterday when I asked my neighbor if he would help me change my rear drive shaft joints. I always thought it required a big press, and a set of torches to heat them to do the job. Nope, actually all it requires are 2 hammers, 1 small & 1 medium screwdriver, 1 pair of needle nose pliers, 1 socket just a little smaller than the outer bearing, and a little patience. I wish now that I had taken pictures, but the whole thing took us less than 2 hours from start to finish. If anyone is interested in hearing the complete procedure I will oblige, otherwise I'll go back to my cave.

cletus

A step by step would be great.I have to do mine soon.
Thanks

powderman426

Here it is step by step. First off make sure you mark the drive shaft if it isn't already marked. Mine had white paint marks on the rear of the front shaft and the front and rear of the rear shaft. Next cut the front nylon strap holding the rubber boot. Remove the 4 15mm bolts at the rear and carefully slide the shaft from the spline. You will see that the spline is missing a notch so it will only go on one way. Now that the drive shaft is out remove the 4 clips on the ends of the u joint bearing using the needle nose pliers. Next put the shaft into the vise gripping it near the end just behind the bearing cap tight enough to hold the shaft without crushing it (if you grab right near the end it would be very hard to do damage to it). At this point I used a ball peen hammer that had a flat head just a little smaller than the bearing. I shouldn't have to say this but I will, USE SAFETY EYE WEAR. It will drive right through leaving you with the shaft, and the end holding the other half of the bearing. Clamp the end piece into the vise and drive out the other half of the bearing. Now carefully clean the surfaces where the bearing came out paying particular attention to removing and burrs and cleaning the grooves that the clips go into. Now for the quiet time part. Carefully remove the opposing end caps from the new bearing. When you remove them be very careful to look and see that all the needles are in place. I like to have the shaft held in the vise so the holes where the bearings go are horizontal. Insert the u joint in the shaft as far right as possible. Then take the first bearing and start it into the hole from the outside. You should be able to get the end of the u joint started into the bearing. At this point tap it in with a hammer while making sure the bearing is on the u joint. The cap can go a little deeper than the clip slot making it easier to insert the clip. Now move the u joint to the left just enough that you are still in the first cap so the needles wont fall out while starting the left bearing cap. Drive the cap in as far as it will go, then loosen the vise and rest the shaft on the top of the vise and using the socket finish driving the cap in until you can get the second clip in place. We are almost there now. Most likely the u joint wont swivel easily at this point, because in driving the caps in place we have sprung the opening in a little bit. Alternating from side to side, strike the inside edge of the bearing flang while checking to see that the u joint swivels freely. I know this sounds like a lot, but it really goes quickly after you do one. Repeat this process above on the other bearing half, and you are ready to do the other end. Yes do both ends even if one feels ok, as a good bit of the work is actually getting the drive shaft off and on. Here is where I will probably lose some following, but I bought my u joints at Autozone for $18 each. Yes I know they are Chinese, but they are still most likely going to last another 50,000 miles. Also they come with a lifetime warranty so the worst case scenario is you will get some practice doing this again. Replace the drive shaft paying attention to the marks and attach a new nylon strap. Follow these instructions and the next time someone says you need a big press or a set of torches to change u joints, you will be able to say "I DON'T THINK SO".

92'1stGen

Check out the sticky in the 1st Gen section. There's a write up about changing u-joints in the Dana 60 front axle. Although it may be different than our front axle, the process is basically the same.

powderman426

I didn't mean to rehash info already posted. Someone said a detailed description of doing u joints without having or needing a press or a set of torches would be appreciated, so I posted how we (my 74 yr old neighbor and myself 68) did it. If 2 old men with 2 hammers can do them then anyone should be capable. If this isn't needed, please have the administrator remove it, & I'll go back to my cave. BTW in general I am all for grease fittings, but on u joints they don't generally work well because the pressure needed for the grease to go to the 4 bearings isn't equal, and you usually end up with a joint like the picture posted above. 3 of them get grease and the 4th one is dry.

cletus

Thanks for the write up,sounds fairly easy.

johnh

another thought is to check the grease holes to see if they actually are functional when you buy them..........

powderman426

Sorry John but that doesn't work either. If all the holes are not the same size, or the needle bearings don't put the same amount of pressure on the incoming grease, it takes the path of least resistance and one or more of them don't take the grease. It doesn't matter how much grease you pump through it will always follow the easiest flow. There just isn't any good way to grease them except putting a fitting on each bearing. Putting a single zerk on it is good in theory, bad in practice.

hovisimo

Autozone will loan you the press to push the joints out for a deposit. try soaking the bearing caps in PB blaster overnight first.

anyone know what tool they use to torque down the unit hub nuts? I swear mine were tightened to like 300 ft/lbs, there's no way to get a socket and breaker bar in there.