Rear u-joint - any quirks?

[thezentree]

My aftermarket rear driveshaft is at a driveline shop getting checked for balance issues, so I've got my old OEM DS in the 4Runner to get me to work and back. It needs a new U joint though, and I will have limited time to replace it on Friday.

Any quirks to doing the job or is it just remove snap rings and press it out?

 

[sleepydad]

My aftermarket rear driveshaft is at a driveline shop getting checked for balance issues, so I've got my old OEM DS in the 4Runner to get me to work and back. It needs a new U joint though, and I will have limited time to replace it on Friday.

Any quirks to doing the job or is it just remove snap rings and press it out?

I replaced my rear DS rear ujoint last year. ended up cutting it out, unless you have the special press tool for removing them, yes it sucked. it took a lot longer than I would have liked and I finally figured out in the end the front double cardon was also worn out. so I ordered a new DS from tom woods in UT.

unless your going to drive tons of miles I would skip it, not worth it for just a short period of time. unless it's really really bad and it's shaking your truck apart.

the DS is balanced and the run-out of those u-joints is very small, if you do it wrong it will cause vibrations. you will see vids of people beating them out with a hammer and that is just wrong on so many levels. for a trail rig sure beat the snot out of it who cares but for a truck that drives on the highway @ 70 mph... your going to notice the snot comes back in vibrations.

 

[thezentree]

I replaced my rear DS rear ujoint last year. ended up cutting it out, unless you have the special press tool for removing them, yes it sucked. it took a lot longer than I would have liked and I finally figured out in the end the front double cardon was also worn out. so I ordered a new DS from tom woods in UT.

unless your going to drive tons of miles I would skip it, not worth it for just a short period of time. unless it's really really bad and it's shaking your truck apart.

the DS is balanced and the run-out of those u-joints is very small, if you do it wrong it will cause vibrations. you will see vids of people beating them out with a hammer and that is just wrong on so many levels. for a trail rig sure beat the snot out of it who cares but for a truck that drives on the highway @ 70 mph... your going to notice the snot comes back in vibrations.

I've got an 80 mile daily commute with a lot of interstate, so balance issues are very noticeable, which is why my Tom Woods shaft is at a driveline shop. If I end up needing to send it back to Tom Woods it'll be a couple of weeks before I get it back, and that's ~800 miles or more I'll need to drive. Trust me, I'd rather not do this - it's supposed to be like 35 degrees on Friday.

I had planned on using a ball joint press with no attachments and a torch to heat the yoke up to get it out - is there a better way?

(And for the record, Tom Woods is standing behind their product - they said send it back and they'll make it right. I have no complaints with them.)

 

[BlackCat914]

Had to replace my rear shaft rear joint on my old 3rd gen. It needed to be air hammered out. It also sucked.

 

[kolelt]

Special tools ? You need two people and a table vise grip. Hammer and punch. Chatham’s how I changed mine.

 

[thezentree]

Special tools ? You need two people and a table vise grip. Hammer and punch. Chatham’s how I changed mine.

Seems straightforward, but you never know if Toyota made it a one-way press or if there was a tack weld somewhere, etc.

 

[sleepydad]

Seems straightforward, but you never know if Toyota made it a one-way press or if there was a tack weld somewhere, etc.

good to hear Tom stood up I had perfect experience with them, sorry you had a bad first try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUvpvOMsTg

remember just not so long ago when I said don't use that bottle jack to do that bushing removal? Well a hammer to those ears on drive shaft where the ujoint presses in.... yea those can bend with the hammer method and then your driveshaft is going to be way out. new ujoint or not if the mounting holes that are bored in the shaft ends get out of alignment. bad news.

I'm not saying it can't be done because people do it. I can drive down the road @ 70 mph, a cup of water in my cup holder has no ripples in it. super happy with Toms on that one. pulling that shaft is not hard but its a pain, if you lived down the street I have my old shaft sitting the corner waiting for his chance to get back onto the road. would totally give it to you. you need to move closer.

so if you want to know about u-jonts? it's like a 7 part series...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0RZVQQVMZs

this dude collects u-joints, he loves u-joints, he knows everything about u-joints. I'm way over the top on most things but... I like to know everything I can about things before I rekt them.

 

[thezentree]

good to hear Tom stood up I had perfect experience with them, sorry you had a bad first try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUvpvOMsTg

remember just not so long ago when I said don't use that bottle jack to do that bushing removal? Well a hammer to those ears on drive shaft where the ujoint presses in.... yea those can bend with the hammer method and then your driveshaft is going to be way out. new ujoint or not if the mounting holes that are bored in the shaft ends get out of alignment. bad news.

I'm not saying it can't be done because people do it. I can drive down the road @ 70 mph, a cup of water in my cup holder has no ripples in it. super happy with Toms on that one. pulling that shaft is not hard but its a pain, if you lived down the street I have my old shaft sitting the corner waiting for his chance to get back onto the road. would totally give it to you. you need to move closer.

Oh I wasn't planning on using a hammer at all, just a press and a torch.

Haha it sounds like it.

The driveline shop just called me and said that the TW shaft is bent about 1/32", so I suspect UPS had something to do with that. I'm going to call TW when they open in a little while and see if they'd be willing to straighten and rebalance it. It's been 6 months since I installed it though, so I can't blame them if they won't cover that.

 

[kolelt]

Seems straightforward, but you never know if Toyota made it a one-way press or if there was a tack weld somewhere, etc.

Yeah. But I just said. That’s what I did to change my u-joints on my 3rd gen. You obviously are not smashing the shit out it with the hammer. Your working it slowly and nicely.

 

[AntleredRuin]

In my personal experience, don't go into this job if you have 'limited time'. I gave myself an entire Sunday, and still had to borrow the family 3rd car for a few days due to mine being disassembled.

I actually ended up just buying a new (used) DS with good ujoints from a junkyard (I had to find time to go, hence it taking a few days).

I tried the hammer and socket method and...nothing. I actually cracked my impact rated socket.
So I rented a press from Advanced Auto. And completely squished the ujoint. It just collapsed in on itself. So I had to cut it out with an angle grinder.
Then, when pressing the new one in, I learned that the yoke was slightly squished (probably my fault).
So like 10 hours wasted, with trips back and forth to the store and not actually getting anything done.
Sunday gone.

I said **** it and bought the junkyard driveshaft for $50.
It works great, and I'll stay on top of greasing the ujoints.

Moral of the story is: I recommend getting it done professionally, or just buy a used one (make sure there's a return policy, obviously).