Well, I got the u joint installed. Took about 7 hours, partly due to stupid mistakes. The '96 slip yoke was a functional match (though not exactly identical - there are a few minor differences in the casting) but I didn't end up needing it.
I had to use some heat and hammering in addition to the two jaw puller to get the first bearing cap to cooperate, but eventually it came out far enough to use the grinder and vice method from Tim and Jordan's video, which worked perfectly. The second cap was easy. The third also required a bit of heat to get started. The last one was not budging, I had pushed the cap out too far when removing the opposite side and it was going back in askew. Eventually I gave up trying to get it out and pushed it all the way in then took an angle grinder to it in order to remove enough from the cap to get the spider out. I had marred up the bearing seat pretty bad with all the hammering and pressing so I had to get the smoothed out with a file. The reinstall was perfectly easy.
Having watched Tim's video probably 3 times at this point, I realized part of the reason his vids are so helpful. It's not just the attention to detail and thorough explanation. It's that Tim, like most of the rest of us, is an amature. He approaches the job with a lot of care, caution, and thoughtfulness because he (like us) is kinda figuring it out as he goes. He shows the problems he runs into and explains the difficulties. Contrast this with some expert mechanic who's done dozens of U-joint jobs in his life and explains it as if it's as easy for you as it is for him. That expert mechanic might be objectively more knowledgeable but is ultimately way less helpful. Especially when the "help" consists of snarky comments left on other people's content....
So anyway, thanks Tim. I doubt I would have finished the job in one day (or maybe at all) without your video.
