Yesterday, I tried for hours to get the center ball out of the double cardan. Finally gave up and took it to a driveline shop this morning. They had to heat the race bearing to shrink it and pull the ball out. Then they had to cut the race bearing out with a torch. They completed the rest of the build, balanced and painted for $55. I gave the mechanic a nice tip!

So here is my advice for anyone looking to tackle this job themselves.

1. Make sure you have a press. A hammer and socket won't cut it. Harbor Freight has one for $39.99.

2. The nuts holding the driveshaft on are SAE 9/16. They are not 14mm nor 15mm.

3. Don't put it on ramps. You will need to put the truck in neutral to rotate the driveshaft to get to all the bolts.

4. If you just can't seem to get the new u-joints on far enough for the clip, there is a needle bearing in the bottom and you need a new cap. I bought an extrau-joint because I do things like that...it came in very handy.

5. The center ball is a BIT**. You will need a slide hammer which you can rent from AutoZone for free. (You pay for it and get refunded when you bring it back)

6. Lastly, if you don't have patience, or are a weekend mechanic, don't even bother...take it somewhere. It's not worth the time and frustration for a few hundred bucks. If you must do it yourself, line up a driveline shop in case you get stuck. Doing the u-joints wasn't too bad, but the center ball killed me.

Thanks to all who helped me out, I really appreciate the tips!

Okdiscoguy sent me this link: http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/doublecardan.php. It was helpful, but DO NOT try and pry out the centerball, use a slide hammer. Thanks okdiscoguy!

jkidd and discomike sent me this AWESOME link... http://www.box.net/shared/jbgsi67tnx thanks jkidd and discomike!

 

Glad to hear you got it. I have never had to mess with a double cardan, but I saw the link and thought it might be helpful. Good advice for others...

 

Very good, it's a nice feeling having a drive shaft that's not going to blow up isn't it? You got a good deal for $55. It's odd that some of thoseballs just won't budge, I got lucky with mine I think. It just popped out after working at it for a while. The biggest part about u-joints is having patience and taking your time so that the needle bearings are sure to stay in place when assembling.

 

I've changed ahandful over the years on Toyotas/Chevy/Fords(not on L/R's though), They are a challenge, but not impossible.Ya definitely needthe tools.Some places will say they're not replacable, but as you know, they indeed are.

 

Jamie:

I noticed that you indictated that you used 9/16 SAE nuts for the drive shaft bolts. The attachment that you referenced, and that was included on your initial u-joint thread, specifies 3/8" 24 TPI bolts (and I assume the corresponding nuts).Perhaps I'll just get both unless I ammissing something.

Did youget the replacementnutsat the autopartsvender thatyou purchased the u-joints from orwould a regular hardware store variety suffice?

Justto confirm, you purchased the Neapco 1-005 u-joints (x4 - 3 required and an extra)and the Precision 617 Replacement Ball Kitasdescribed in the attachment as well. Correct?

Thanks and I applaud you efforts.

Dave

 

He used a 9/16 wrench for the 3/8" size nuts. They can be had at most any hardware store, just make sure they arethe higher grade hardware (grade 5 or 8) (most nuts and bolts you can buy are low grade). It's probably not a big deal to reuse the old nuts and bolts though. I got new ones because they are cheap and the threads where sort of beat up on the old ones.

 

Thanks for the info. Im working on rebuilding my driveshaft and its taking longer than expected. Im having trouble pressing the u-joints back into the "H", it sounds likeit might be a bearing in the bottom of the cap. I cant seem the keep the press centered on the H.I had no problems withgetting them into the flange, or with the centering ball. Guess i got lucky with that. Thanks again for the info.

 

Ah, the light goes on...thanks, jkid.

 

I agree, the "H" piece yoke is tough. Do what ever you can to even upthe yoke piece inthe press so that the caps are pressed in evenly, use washers on one side if you have to. Press them in a little bit, then slide the u-joint in and out of the caps to make sure that there is stillno binding and then press them in a bit more. Once it gets started the bearings will not fall out into the cap. If the joint won't slide in and out smoothly then the cap needs to be pressed in a bit straighter (you can usually tell which side of the bearing cap is ****-eyed).

Once it's in and the clips are seated nicely (clean out the grooves and seat them in with a punch), press the bearing caps back out against the clips andsmack the "H" yoke piece a couple times with a hammer. This seats the bearings andthe jointwill be nice and loose.

 

The part # for the u-joints at Advance Auto is 1-0005 - you will need 4 of them for the front and back shaft. The centerball kit was part # 7-0081NG, also at Advance Auto. I got the replacement nuts at NAPA.