I have the week off and was kind of looking forward to rebuilding the front prop shaft. I called a driveshaft shop in Albuquerque that will do the rebuild for $120. Does that seem typical? I'm tempted to pull it off and have it done especially after all the struggle I read here about the centering ball.

 

I would gladly go back in time and pay 120 for someone else to do mine instead of me. Definitely a "right tool for the job" kind of job. 120 sounds great.

 

Pay the 120. It's a good deal. Make sure they balance it.

 

$120 is one hell of a deal if that includes balancing. I used precision u-joints and centering ball from napa and it cost $85 for the parts. Had I known then what a pain that centering ball would be I would have been completely happy even paying someone $150 to do it for me.

 

I was quoted $150 with balancing from a local driveline shop. Will be doing it soon, or maybe replace it.

 

Since I don't know it's history, I've been thinking about doing mine before I go out with surgery later this week. How hard and what tools do I need? Can I just do it in the driveway? I don't want to tie up a lift for a day or two.

 

Took me about 3 hrs, on the tailgate of my truck with a wood block on it so I'd have something flat to hammer against. Most of that time spent was looking for tools or cursing the shaft. It was not an enjoyable project by any means.

I used some snap ring pliers, hammer, impact socket the size of the u-joint caps, and a dull chisel. Not sure how others remove the centering ball but I used a chisel and broke it out, then used a socket over the new one to knock it back in.

 

Have the shop do it!! I had my local shop do it for me. Took it in at 3:00 in the afternoon, they called me the next morning at 10:00 and said it was ready. I paid $168 for mine.

 

As a labor price that is good. If you supply your own parts make sure they are Spicer or some other well non US made set and try to find a centering ball that also has a grease fitting for better wear.

 

It's not a bad job at all if you've done u-joints before.

You'll need a few specialized tools - a large c clamp, snap ring pliers, and a slide hammer to pull the centering ball. The cost of those tools alone (~$50 I'd guess) might make it worth paying to have it done.

I wouldn't consider changing u-joints with a hammer. That's a mistake I made only once many years ago.