Technical U-Joints....How do you do them?

I started doing u-joints back in the early sixties. Due to lack of knowledge and equipment, I beat them in and out with a big hammer! With a percentage of luck!
When I got my shop I had a huge Wilton vice, the vastly improved my percentages!
Then with the addition of my 20 ton electric over hydraulic press my percentage finally hit 100%.
I would press them out with my press, then clean the joint, spotless, including the clip grooves with a hook prick.
Then I would press the cup in with my vice, so that I could “ feel” the cup going in, to be sure it was lined up properly. I would push it all the way through the joint till it bottomed against the vice. Then I would install the clip. I would the scoot the cross out a little to get the cup on the cross and in the bore with out loosing the needle bearings. Then I would push both cups to their position. Repeat. Then relieve the joint. This is how I did it
I believe that I have done way over 500 u- joints in my life.... got to where I kinda liked doing them!

Just wonder how other folks did u- joints.








Bones

 

Depends on the driveshaft, if it's easy to hold I do them in the vise, if not I lay it on the floor and use a couple sockets and a hammer. I also make sure to file the holes where they get burrs from removing the old joint.

I made a little stand to hold up the cross when disassembling the joint.

 

Sounds like you are the U-joint man to me especially if you enjoy doing them.
Ive just used a hammer etc. on what few I have done.

 

I use a block of wood and a big hammer. Tap the first cup in, insert the u joint, I put a bunch of grease in the last cap to hold the bearings. I put the cap in position holding the wood with one hand and with one swift hit drive the cap home. Has worked for me for over 50 years.

 

I've been doing u-joints since the 60s as well. I mostly use a large vice and a large hammer for dis-assembly and a smaller one for re-assembly. I support the end I'm working on, in or on the vice (depending) and support the other end with a support (2X4) that slides out from a pocket under the work bench top. I always put lots of grease in the cups before assembly. I spent years working for the Jeep dealership and did what seems like hundreds of double cardon u-joints, basically the same way.

When I was quite young I worked with an older mechanic that said he didn't know how I could do u-joints like that, but if he tried he would screw them up. I haven't damaged a u-joint putting it together for over 30 years. I quite enjoy doing u-joints. They generally go pretty easy and I get to hit stuff with a big hammer. It's therapeutic.

I only use a press for u-joints when I am working on a shaft larger than a 1 ton truck, so not often at all.

 

evidently I do them wrong... at least the very first one I changed. got it put together wrong and had a vibration, and the plan was to fix it later. then I missed a light on the way to the swap meet with a buddy ahead of me and my driveshaft flew out on the freeway doing 90 trying to catch up. it will surprise you how far a car can coast from 90 MPH with no driveshaft. input shaft was still in the transmission and the cups and u bolts were still on the differential.
as a bonus the flinging driveshaft cracked the Muncie transmission case at the mounting ears and I leaked all my gear oil and grenaded the trans a while later. good times!

 

gotta make damn sure the snap rings are seated all the way!

 

Funny, I was just looking over a shop manual on this.

No special Ford tool #46398-B; no sir, they specify a vise or a press and "Select a socket slightly smaller in its outside diameter than the universal joint bearings. Select another socket slightly larger in its inside diameter than the bearing outside diameter."

 

On the floor, big hammer to take apart and small hammer to reinstall.
I have an assortment of short pieces of pipe to support the yoke for the U joint cup to fall through.

 

Started out with a big hammer, a large socket, and a block of wood. Have progressed to a bench vise and a large socket. Moving on up oh yeah!

 

Haven't messed one up (hammer and block of wood method) since buying one of these... Much easier.

 

My experience with them mirrors what you do. First with hammer and sockets, then later on with a vice then I bought a HF hydraulic press. Usually though a vice is good enough. But to get out the later model old Ujoints with the plastic ring, I heat it up with propane to melt the plastic and then drive it out.

 

Socket(s) & Large C-clamp.

 

I use my OTC ball joint press like 62SY4 showed.

Sent from my VS988 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I have used all the above methods over the decades, then one day I got one of these....

 

I learned not to over tighten the U bolts on the caps. If the cap gets distorted in shape, the joint will wear out very quick.

 

You have got to be very cautious using a press of any kind on the cups and pressing against the yoke . The yoke can be bent and damaged beyond repair vary easily with the press. I think the correct way to remove the cups and cross is to place a block ( socket what ever you choose ) against the cup and strike the yoke not at the cap end to force the cross out . I have probably only done it this way 3 times in my life . I’m the same as all the rest , a ball joint press or a 20 ton press and chance destroying the yoke in the process .

 

Use my cheap hydraulic press, but because of the angle on the yokes, it is always a challenge in trying to keep things level to prevent any slipping. Each time, I say I need a jig. I should get one of those big clamps.

 

Two sockets and a vice does it every time.

 

Seems as a lot of the replies are from people that have never experienced “rust weld “ of living in the rust belt causes on tight tolerance fitted parts . Ujoints fall into some of the worse for rust welded issues I have ever had to deal with . They have a tendency to make the Preacher cuss trying to remove them in neck of the woods. One thing to always remember is wear eye protection , the cap is hardened material and the hammer face is hard also .

 

Hammer and a vice. The vice is never used to seat the cups. Been doing them this way since the late 60s. Never had one fail due to the installation process. Gene

 

Hammer, sockets, vise grips to hold the socket you’re going to hit, block of wood on bottom of driveshaft. Grease cups to hold bearings in for reassembly, push both sides in by hand as far as I can. Then use a C clamp to push them on in, or light taps with socket and small hammer.

 

That's what I use, and have, for over 20-years.

Good tools pay for themselves.

 

Funny I was reading an article about this recently. Author was looking at the differences between U-Joints at different price points, cheap, medium priced, expensive. What he found was the cheap and medium priced U-Joints all had caps that varied in size by a few thousands under size even on the same U-Joint. The expensive ones fit perfectly and resulted in a driveshaft with no vibration. The author claimed that a lot of driveshaft vibrations were due to using inexpensive U-Joints with under-size caps.

 

I use the vise and socket method. Couple of wood blocks to keep the driveshaft stable. Make sure everything is clean and a light coating of oil and everything presses back together very nicely

 

I've use all the mentioned methods. Now I still use the big socket to receive to cup coming out, but an air hammer instead of a big hammer. Install using the bench vise mostly.

 

I have an old transmission yoke with a capless u joint still installed. Capless on the two parts of the U joint, that would have gone into the driveshaft.

Dunno' if right or wrong, but I've used it for 20 years to tap U-joints out and in. It's the go between ... for communications between hammer taps and new joints.

The yoke being my hand hold.

Confessions of a hack. < shoulder shrug >

 

Same here.

 

My hat tips to those of you who love changing U-joints. I hate it. I've been most successful when I've heated the yokes, frozen the caps, greased the hell out of the yoke bores and started it all with either a C-clamp or vise, and almost inevitably screwed it up when I didn't do it this way and tried to force the caps in with hammers, 20-ton presses and brute force. U-joints like foreplay, not assault.

 

This is how I do it too. I like to have the driveshaft supported to free up my hands. I make sure the old and new parts match up first and foremost. Take the old 'joint out, clean up the yoke like you were going to eat off it. Makes it way easy to see if the clips are fully seated, also the external clips if you have those.