This is my joint!!!! It ain't u joint!!

[farmersamm]

Ever try to persuade an old OLD u joint that it better leave the joint before the cops get called in??:laugh:

Well, around here, it's my way, or the highway:gunsfirin

Now for those folks that don't have a 50 ton press, there's a few ways to get u joint caps outta the yoke...................

Pic One........ Gentle persuasion:) Lay the shaft on some blocks suspended by the spider, and give the yoke some healthy taps. Now if ya ain't gettin' no love, move onto step two

Pic Two........ Try a little forceful reasoning:) Lay the shaft on a block, strike end of cap with BFH. Still ain't gettin' no love???? Might be time to call the bouncer. This dude's bein' a jerk:gunsfirin

Pic Three........ Time to get out the HOT PRESS, also known as the HOT WRENCH. In more civilized corners of the world, it's known as the GAS AXE:D. Cut the spider out, which also heats the yoke to break any rust bond, then drive the caps out with a hammer and drift. (Nice drop cut by the way......Thank you:p)

Pic Four........Ten minutes worth of work:drinkup:

Pic Five.........That's a precision made part (Spicer, made in the good ol' USA), installed on a US made vehicle, that took 15 years to fail. And you can bet this ol' truck was never handled with kid gloves(94 F-350). You show me a POS Tundra that'll go the distance like this, and I'll eat your hat!!!!!!!!!

OH, BTW...................PLASMA THIS Y'ALL!!:blob2:

:waving:

[JC'sWelding]

I need to replace my joints. I've been putting it off. Last time I did u-joints, I was 16 and didn't know about eye protection. That's when a piece of the cup broke off and found a new home in my eyeball!

[flatbustedbroke]

Go straight to the hot wrench, not sure when they started to use glue at the factory but if there is a c-clip holding them in heat it up and the glue melts out they have a a cut made for the retainer ring they just don't use it til you put a replacement in

[farmersamm]

Go straight to the hot wrench, not sure when they started to use glue at the factory but if there is a c-clip holding them in heat it up and the glue melts out they have a a cut made for the retainer ring they just don't use it til you put a replacement in

This one had the clip too, you can see how the cap's recessed. I don't know if it had the glue or not. I've seen some caps with a green band around them too, I suppose that's a sort of adhesive, I dunno

Keep losin' my connection:angry::angry:

[duaneb55]

GM was using injected plastic to hold joints in back in the '70s.

Last joint I remember cutting out with a torchwrench was a 1710 series on the side of the Interstate in 6" of slush!:realmad:

Those 'lil baby ones don't put up much of a fight.:eek::laugh:

[farmersamm]

Geez Duane..........THE 70'S

I thought I was talking current tech.

Oh, this aging thing is gettin' to me. I'm becoming obsolete:(:(

[Sandy]

GM was using injected plastic to hold joints in back in the '70s.

Not that long ago then. ;)

Helped a guy with his 78 half ton that had injection rings. They pushed right out. I can remeber doing several others that had the injected plastic retainer system. Don't remember the color even if it was just the other day. I had a 78 3/4 ton but don't recall how they were in there. Nice thing about kalifornia is less salt and rust than a lot of places.

My 85 ford 1/2 ton had purdy blue plastic in them.

[farmersamm]

When the age of your truck is more than half, or over half your age, AND YOU BOUGHT IT NEW:cry:, its time to consider how you like your pureed beef, and baby food.

I'm startin' to see if they make Depends in my size..........for future reference:(:(

[denrep]

For disassembly, I prefer the method in picture #1, except maybe on steel.
By the way that's also the best method to seat the reassembled joint's cap snug against the snap ring.

Nylon retainers? Not sure, but I think I first spotted ‘em on Buick, maybe ‘64, not long after the torque tube was gone.

Good Luck

[Boostinjdm]

I prefer using a press. I picked this one up a week or so ago and had to cut it all apart, straighten and reassemble. Looks and works like new. I figured if I was billing somebody else I would have turned the job down cuz they would have about $750 in labor and $50 in parts. So much for being a free-bee. Oh well, works good though. I just broke it in doing some u-joints on Friday. It'll get me by till my big one is done.

[farmersamm]

A press is the handiest thing in the world. You did good!!!!!!!!!

[Boostinjdm]

For $50 out of my pocket in parts, I did OK. All the labor was due to straightening with a big C-clamp and the torch since I didn't have a functional press at the time. It has a air over hydraulic jack, which is nice. A new press similar to this with a manual jack is $400.

[Boostinjdm]

I forgot to mention the method I use for u-joints in the press. I drill a hole slightly bigger than the caps in a thick plate, then just use a socket or a short piece of shaft to push on the top. Same method works for pressing pins out of an excavator track chain. You just need a REALLY thick plate and a REALLY big press.

[farmersamm]

I forgot to mention the method I use for u-joints in the press. I drill a hole slightly bigger than the caps in a thick plate, then just use a socket or a short piece of shaft to push on the top. Same method works for pressing pins out of an excavator track chain. You just need a REALLY thick plate and a REALLY big press.

The big loud bang when it lets go, and the rust dust flyin' around is :cool2::cool2::cool2:

I pressed out some spring bushings on the resto I'm doing (for the next 60yrs:dizzy:) on the C-30, and it was touch and go, until it let go. WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KABAM!!!!!!!!!

[Boostinjdm]

You should have seen the guys scatter when the first pin came out. I don't know what model the track was off of but it was being used for a conveyer that fed cars into a giant shredder.
Here is some bad pics of the conveyor with a crane thrown in for scale. The CAT is a PC300.
http://www.shinebros.com/FROMTOWER2.jpg

[baronthered]

I've seen a track pin go through an 8" poured concrete wall. Not pretty at all. They just had bought the machine at a local shop here and they were new at the process and when the boss came out of the office to see what exactly was happening he looked around and said " I guess we need to make a guard or somethin' " First trip there and the last.

[Boostinjdm]

yep, a press, especially one with significant power needs to be respected. when I was pushing the pins, I had a hole in the table to push them through and I made a special cap that slipped over the rod on the cylinder. The cap had a pin welded to it so that stacking of pins or blockin under the link was avoided. I could just start to apply pressure to the pin to hold it in place, and then close the guard and get the hell out of the way before applying real pressure. A press definately needs to be square all over and stout enough to not flex when applying pressure. If it flexes then you have just preloaded your part and it could come out at a very high rate of speed. I have only had a part fly out once, and it didn't cause any damage, but it was definately enough to make you think about what you're doing.

[Billdacat]

This is how to destroy a u-joint...:nono:

http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u239/mudheads/Alpha_Omega/?action=view&current=MPEG0035.flv


Soaking the joint in diesel and using a cheep HF U-joint press is my first option. Cutting the joint in half and driving out with a pneumatic hammer works great for the stubborn ones. Most Jeep joints are the small 1310 series…

[weldbead]

Geez Duane..........THE 70'S

I thought I was talking current tech.

Oh, this aging thing is gettin' to me. I'm becoming obsolete:(:(
aging is optional/death is the option