I just got done rebuilding my front driveshaft – at 150,000 miles on the original with non-greasable u-joints, it was time. But it wasn't fun, and it wasn't cheap. Here's the cautionary tale.

It began when I bought some GKN u-joint replacements from AB and the precision 617 part from Moog to replace the center bearing in the cardon joint, as advised in numerous forum posts and online guides. I thought it'd be a one-day affair, and everything went well until I got to the center bearing and started trying to remove it with a slide hammer. It wouldn't budge. I'll spare you the details, but it turned out the sleeve of the original bearing had welded itself to the cup that holds it over time. Repeated heating and cooling cycles can sometimes do this.

By the time I reached this point, I'd spent around $160, including tool costs. The screwup with the center bearing meant I'd have to buy a new (or used) shaft. I spent about $350 on a new GKN shaft – I'm not in the U.S. or Europe, and it's not cheap to source heavier parts like this. Then I rebuilt that cardon end with greasable UJs and installed it. Luckily there's no sign that it's out of balance, so I have that going for me, which is nice. But to any future driveshaft-rebuilders out there: consider leaving well enough alone if the center bearing looks to be in good shape. If you go for the replacement, be prepared for the possibility that you might not be able to extract it. I'm not saying not to do it – just make sure you're financially and mentally prepared for the possibility that it might not work. Many of the guides you see online treat it as a somewhat-tough thing to do, but I haven't seen any that suggest it won't work. If I had to do it again, I'd probably still try to extract the center bearing, but I wish I'd known about the risks and dangers.