on my drive shaft .On the u joint there are like plastic pins on the sides , to replace the joint should I heat them up 1st, or just press them out also on the shaft is the smaller drive shaft is it soupposed to move in and out?

 

one more pic

 

A press could shear those off easily. I see they are original.

If you are just a guy with a socket and a hammer OR C clamp, I suggest heat them with a propane torch till they are good and hot and bang/compress away.

What do you mean smaller drive shaft?

If you have a two piece drive shaft, and the two pieces move...that's bad very bad.

 

Just to confirm, it the small part of the drive shaft is moving in and out within the larger length..thats bad.

 

It's actually more than just plastic pins. The yoke and U-joint caps have matching circumferential grooves in them. The factory retained the U-joints by injection molding plastic into these grooves, forming a plastic locking ring between the yoke and cap. Plastic was injected into one hole, flowed around the ring, and came out the other hole to let the operator know he had completely filled the groove. It takes a bit of force to shear these plastic rings. Of course, the replacement U-joints will have metal snap rings to retain them.

The concentric tubes have a rubber damper between them. There should not be any relative motion between the two tubes. If there is, the driveshaft is bad. The concentric tube design was only used on AT cars.

 

I always heat the area around the ujoint with a torch and the plastic flows out like a 4th of July carbon snake. It amazes me that these old ujoints lasted as long as they did.

 

thanks the shaft don't move just looks funny never seen one like that . I also have a 20 ton press so just heat them up to melt out the plastic and press them out.

 

Yes and then use the supplied clips with the new ujoints to reinstall.

 

You won't need to heat them if you are using a 20 ton press. I replaced a lot of these using a socket and a hammer to drive them out, so a press will do it with no effort.

 

....thank you...!!

 

what brand or make u joint do u guys use ?

 

Not heating them puts a lot of stress on the metal. Heating them and melting the plastic makes the job quick and easy.

 

I would not hammer them out as stated. If you hammer on the driveshaft too much you will through the piece out of wack for sure and I have seen presses BEND the yoke area when the plastic does not give way.

Best to get your little map torch from Home depot and get out as much as possible and as it is hot the yoke will expand enough to make the extraction much easier.
I AM NOT saying you can not do it the way you are.... Some people would not support the yoke well enough so this is a safe stupid proof way not to mess up the shaft.

If it were me. I would get rid of the shaft all together and get a ONE piece drive shaft. THAT thing is a accident waiting to happen with a torquey Motor. Jim

JD

 

Spicer