The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline How to get to ujoint

Ok mates. Tried your method. Jacked it up and took the tires off. Then put jack’s under the frame aft of the springs. And. It made it worse.

So just finished putting everything back the way it was and it’s still looks iffy

I’m hoping when I take the trans bolts loose it drops enough to get it out.

Any other suggestions

Doug

Doug, Have you tried dropping the torque tube below the tranny?
You might have to loosen the two bolts (one on each side) holding the axle to the spring mount? If there's a lot of tension on it, it would make it difficult to move the torque tube. Loosening the bolts would allow the axle to rotate within the spring mounts.

Yea. It doesn’t clear the ujoint housing going down. Lol

Doug

It looks to me like you can push the bell back further on the torque tube. Should clear then. The yoke should slide back further as well.

Agree with Kevin about sliding the bell back further. Doug, per your two pics above, I don't see how you will be able to slide the tranny back far enough to drop it without running into the yoke. The yoke needs to be removed.

I only moved the bell up so it fit the contour of the floor and get a little higher.

I have not been able to depress the rear yoke. So can’t clear the trans housing.

So kind of stuck. Think putting some blaster on that yoke might free it up some. I used a big crowbar and it didn’t move. Of course this may be the first time in 70 years that anyone has tried.

Doug

You can always remove the u-bolts on the rear axle and pull the rear back as a last resort. If you do so, it is recommended that you replace the u-bolts as your not supposed to reuse them.

Well finally got that sucker down. Did just the opposite of what everyone had said. I jacked up the rear and put stands under the axles. Took just a bit of prying to get the ujoint over the rim and down it came.

I’ll start on getting the ujoint spline out of the tube and then the bell cover off. That should give me plenty of room to pull the trans after I raise it to the floor.

Does anyone know where to get the felt ring and packing for the joint on the bell tube. Also need that rubber ring that seals the bell to the cover. I’m about to order the ujoint repair kit but don’t see those parts.

Thanks for all the moral support.

Doug

Glad you got that u-joint to move. You've proven that a bunch of us aren't crazy.
You can get the whole gasket/seal kit for the u-joint bell here. Other vendors should have the kit as well. There are multiple gaskets that go between the transmission and bell cover so you can adjust the tension on it so the seal (which is a cork/rubber composite) seals correctly.

That looks like it. I’ll get that ordered shortly.

Thanks for the tip.

Any suggestions on how to get the ujoint off the axle

Doug

The whole problem could have been avoided by removing the rear half of the U joint, and the bell. Neither one should be locked up that tight, and it's all going to have to be freed up so it slides back and forth easily before things get reassembled. The torque tube and the driveshaft spline MUST be free to move in and out as the suspension moves up and down. Unless the bell assembly is removed from the torque tube it will be impossible to adjust the preload on the ball to prevent a grease leak, by shimming the cover back and forth with the right stack of gaskets, and the rear of the U joint needs to be a smooth slip fit on the driveshaft spline. The packing under the gland nut at the back end of the bell needs to be changed while you're in there also, so not doing a full disassembly isn't an option.
Jerry

Slide hammer with a hook on the end?
It shouldn't be that hard to get off. And like Jerry said, it needs to slide fairly easily on reassembly, so any burrs on the splines will need to be dealt with.
The procedure for adjusting the bell is outlined in the service manual. See page 7-11 of the 48 to 51 Chevy Truck Shop Manual. The process is the same for later years.

Hmm It doesn’t move with a large crowbar applied to it so maybe a slide hammer may do it. Now have find one.

I sprayed it liberally with blaster and will do it again tonight and on the morning to try and free it up. In the meantime the hunt is on for a slide hammer.

Doug

Too bad you weren't near me for I'd let you use my slide knocker. Amazon has them for $52+ with one day delivery for prime members.

Meanwhile, What both Jerry and Kevin says above.......

Found one on Amazon for taking out cv joints. It’s U shaped and will fit around the shaft of the ujoint. Should work. It will be here Sunday so we’ll find out then if it works.

Doug

I've pulled axle shafts and other stubborn stuck parts with a length of tow chain and a "whiplash" motion. Just be ready to duck if the part launches itself in your direction.
Jerry

Ha. Wouldn’t be the first time I did a self inflicted wound.

Took the rear ujoint apart and spent about 20 minutes using the slide hammer on the ujoint. No movement yet. Just hitting it for that long wore me out.

One side of the ujoint slid out no problem. The other one of course didn’t want to move. So used a socket and my ball peen hammer and finally got it out.

I hit the ujoint with blaster before I stopped for the night. Will hit again in the morning.

Doug

Do you have a jackscrew puller of any kind, like one used to pull a harmonic balancer or a steering wheel? Just bolt a couple of short loops of lightweight chain around the joint and the puller legs, and turn the screw against the end of the driveshaft spline.
Jerry

I’ll give that a try too Jerry

Doug

Thank you Jerry. Picked up a chain after lunch and pulled out my gear pullers. After about two hours I got it out. Was very stuck.

Now to clean up parts the raise the tube up and jam a 2x4 on the frame.

Next up is pulling the transmission.

I’m ready for one of these steps to be easy.

Doug

Man Doug, I give you a lot of credit.

You've done nothing but tear that truck apart every day since you first signed onto this forum. I don't have the stick-to-it-ivness to do all that stuff in one fell swoop.

Good show, and congrats on being persistent. Once everything is cleaned up, the fit of the ball to the back of the transmission is adjusted by stacking up gaskets (or metal shims) between the ball cover and the transmission case until the ball can be moved around with a firm push in any direction. Too loose will result in a leak- - - - -too tight will be noisy as the suspension moves up and down, or it will gall the surface of the ball and the cover. Once the ball fit is adjusted, disassemble things, re-stack the torque tube, U-jpint, ball and cover, and carefully reassemble it.

Jerry

I’ll have to ask for that again Jerry when it’s time to put everything back together. That will likely take a few weeks.

Doug

Somewhere in the past this took a beating. Maybe a blown rear tore up the ujoint.

But someone fixed it. I’m going to get the Dremel out and see if I can clean up the sharp edges.

Lower trans bolts are frozen of course. Got the top two loose then tightened them back up. Blaster all around and will give it another go after lunch.

Doug

Doug, I have two u-joint bells that look similar to that (maybe worse). I picked the best one to use on my truck. Best you can do is smooth off the lumps. I mainly used a file. I wound up welding on one of them to fill a couple of gouges on the inside of the ball. I have a friend with a lathe and have asked him if he can machine a sphere. That would allow resurfacing the outer part where it seals. His lathe isn't fully operational yet, but has a DRO setup on it.

It cleaned up pretty good with the Dremel. I’ll post pictures of it after the paint dries.

Here’s the best I could clean it up. At least I go rid of all the sharp edges.

Now a new question. Now that I have easy access to the drive shaft I put the ujoint on the shaft and it went on easy to a spot then stuck. Any ideas on how to clean it up some.

I’m just about to head to harbor freight and get some long cleaning swabs and see what I can find or clean.

Also got the clutch and pressure plate out a few minutes ago.

Doug