I am changing the joints all around and can't get the old one out of the half shaft-- It almost seems that I will have to grind a little off the opposite yoke to let me press it far enough to clear the yoke ears---Any help willl be greatly appreciated. There are 4 joints on the two half shaft and I have already gotten 2 of them out --I've measured the distanced between the outside of the ears and it's around 3.85 to 3.90 ".. I already found out if you bend them in a little you won't get them out. These were problably put in the yoke without any regard for replacement. Thanks in advance!! :smash:

 

I'm unclear as to exactly what your particular problem is, so pardon me if I'm way off base here with this explanation. If it went in, it has to be removable without grinding.

Haven't done them for awhile, but my recollection is that you remove the grease zerks and C-clip retainers and press or hammer the end cap of one arm of the cross (using a suitable socket or other round cylinder that just fits inside the bore) far enough in to get the cap on the other end to stick out about 1/4 inch, then clamp onto the cap and rock/pull/twist it out (sometimes you can use a punch or a chisel at an angle around the exposed cap surface to tease them out), then do the same with the opposite arm of the cross. With the caps gone, the U-joint cross should come out easily.

The "ears" of the half-shaft that hold the U-joint may tend to bend slightly and bind as you hammer/press.... to try to eliminate the binding, clean the ends of the bores beforehand and use penetrating oil liberally on them, and tap moderately hard with a hammer occasionally on the outside of the casting all around the bores (and on the "ear" castings just between the weld of the ear to the tube and the bore) to jar them loose of the caps, not bend them, as you try to press/hammer the U-joint end(s).

If all else fails, take 'em to a machine shop and have them pressed out.

 

Thanks for the help--I wasn't grabbing the caps. I was trying to push the cap all the way thru and take it out from the middle of the yoke!! Dummy me --I'll try it by grabbing the caps tomorrow and get them loose first. I thought they were in there under a lot of pressure , but I guess they arn't.

 

Be very careful pressing out the joints. I have found the ears are very easily bent inward, preventing getting the new c clips in place.

 

If the car spent any amount of time in the salt belt, then the joints can be extremely difficult to remove. The rust is a formidable opponent. But since you live in Dallas... this is probably of no concern to you. They should come right out.

 

Thanks Tom for that info. This is a Florida car as I bought it 2 years ago from the original owner who had been living in Sebring for a long time. And the joint I am talking about is rusty on the inside of the ears ---I have pushed the whole cap and trunion back and forth 3 or 4 times and it hasn't loosened up--but I haven't done any serious pulling on the cap. One of the other joints let me push it alll the way into the middle areainbetween the ears when it came out.

 

sideoiler;

It may not be rust that's giving you the problem. The retainer grooves might have burrs which is making the caps tough to remove.

I pushed the caps out as far as I could (until the joints almost contacted the ears) and then grabbed the caps in a vise and twisted the caps out.

Be especially careful when you install the new u-joints into the half-shaft flanges! :smash: They are easy to bend! I wasn't paying attention and that was $90 I didn't need to spend.

If you debur the retainer grooves in the flanges, and use a vise to squeeze the new u-joints into the flanges (as opposed to using a press) it's a lot safer. Just make sure the caps are started square to the bore.