Hey guys,
A non-Olds question here. I had a LOT of slop in my front wheel u-joint so I pulled everything and had a shop press the joint out. This u-joint has inside retainer clips and I can get one in but not the other. So I measured. Sure enough, the yoke is about 1/16" too small, or the u-joint is too big. I've been hammering on that yoke for an hour and I can't get it to open up. Then it occurred to me to measure the other yoke. Sure enough, it's too small too. Any way to know if the u-Joint is too big or if the yoke (both of them) got compressed during the pressing? Of course everyplace is closed now and it's supposed to rain.
Man, I hate working on my DD and needing it by Monday

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you need to pop it back apart and see if one of the needle bearings dropped into the bottom of the cup.my guess is yup!

 

Have you looked up the u-joints online to verify you have the correct ones?

 

I had the same thought, but no. Needles are all in place.

Well...er....no. Good idea. The wife grabbed me another from advance (mine were from Napa) and it was indeed smaller and I think it will fit but right now there's a burr blocking the retainer ring seat. I think I'm done for today. I'll do a little machining tomorrow. yokes are in the shop; unfortunately the truck is outside and there's an 80% chance of thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. I'll either get wet or drive the Cutty on Monday.
Thanks guys.

 

Both the Advance and the Napa say they are an exact fit for my truck. They are clearly not the same size.

 

NAPA joints are made by Precision. I don't know what brand Advance carries. I have NAPA/Precision joints in my Jeep, in both drive shafts and the front axle shafts, and they all fit properly.

Being an exact fit depends upon someone looking up the correct part. You should be able to look them up online:

Www.napaonline.com

 

The advance is an off brand; driveworks maybe?. I though it was Moog but it's not. I looked them both up online and they say exact-fit. Maybe the Napa's ended up in the wrong box.

 

Well the deed is done. Not the most pleasant experience but I learned a few things and now own a three-jaw puller (for the hub).
Not sure what the hang up was. I even tried a Moog u-joint and it still didn't fit. I ended up grinding a little, maybe 1/32", from each side of the yoke to open it up. I took it slow and measured carefully. Finished this morning ten minutes before it started pouring. Test drive seemed good, as far as I know. 70 mph and all I could hear was the rain.
Thanks for the help, fellas.