datsunaholic Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Iesus freaking... OK, so the front U-joint on my daily ('76 King Cab) has been going "ping" for a couple months. Occasionally. But yesterday it was going "ping" starting off from every stop, and when accelerating in traffic, any time I got on the gas. And getting louder. That's not good. I thought I had a spare driveshaft... but the front U-joint on it is loose too. These aren't the staked-in or swedged in U-joint bearing cups, they're held in with C-clips. I got the driveshaft out and the C-clips out no problem. Manual says "tap driveline yoke with hammer until the cups fall out". Yeah, NOT happening. I've tapped. I've hammered. I've tried driving them out with a drift pin. I've tried heat. These buggers don't move. I've also totally destroyed one bearing cup when the device I was trying to use slipped and jammed INTO the bearing. I hate taking stuff like this into the machine shop, because they're gonna want to do WAY more than simply remove the old U-joint. But really, I just need the dam cups out. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Some Datsun non-replaceable Ujoints have c-clips which Nissan called the "shell type" driveshaft. They are very difficult to get out. 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Tap is wrong you have to use a large hammer and smack it hard on the yoke. Do not hit and dent the tube. Hold it in your hand and smack it.... http://community.ratsun.net/topic/2329-u-joint-replacement/ 1 Quote Link to comment
Zeusimo Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 I Had To Cut The Center + Piece With A Cut Off Wheel Then Hammered The Bearings Out With Lots Of WD40 Only Did This On 1.. The Other Two Came Out Just With A Hammer Quote Link to comment
datsunaholic Posted June 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Well, there's a reason Mike is the "King Rat". I wasn't hitting it hard enough, and I wasn't holding the driveshaft (I had it set over an old stepstool). So hit it with a lot bigger hammer and the yoke end ones came right out. And were very obvious what the pinging was coming from: The needles had hammered themselves into the inner race. Both sides of the yoke-end bearings, the driveshaft end bearings looked perfect. Now, getting the yoke end off was fine, but getting the other 2 bearing caps off took standing 2 pieces of wood on their sides and supporting the remaining middle section and whacking the driveshaft end. So, i already have the new U-joint in the shaft, but it's too dark to go reinstall the driveshaft (plus I need to now add gear oil) so that's tomorrows project. Now that I know how o do this I can refurb some of my old driveshafts so I can have a ready swap spare next time. I'll need more U-joints. I had 6 (3 pairs) but only one pair was the sealed-bearing type like the original. I used that, so I'll see how that goes. Yes, i packed it full of EP2 (per the U-joint's packaging instructions). Quote Link to comment
zed Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 I Had To Cut The Center + Piece With A Cut Off Wheel Then Hammered The Bearings Out With Lots Of WD40 now I don't feel so bad lol. I had a hell of a battle getting mine out - also had to use a cutter. I think the secret is to not hammer/press the bearing cup so far into the yoke that it comes out of the inside yoke 'bore' - cos you won't get it back in. Press it just far enough that you can grab it with a vise grip. I also polished the inside of the yoke bores with 180grit emery paper before I pressed the new joints in Quote Link to comment
datsunaholic Posted June 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Ahh, no more "Ping!". Now on to tackling the excessive camber. Hopefully it's mostly the UCA bushings, and I have lots of those. If I can get the camber below -2° I'll be happy... it's around -4-5° now on the passenger side, and eating tires on the inner edge. Quote Link to comment
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