Made as short as possible, for those with tiny attention spans as myself.
I took on the task of changing my prop shaft u-joints today and I
experienced some problems that I thought might help some of you in the
future.
The front flange was quite a pain to get to, so I figured I'd just bang on
the rear joint from underneath the car. I had the front on ramps and the
rear on stands, so there was a good bit of room to work with. I beat and
beat and finally got cap pushed out. So for the other cap I beat on the
joint mount to work it out. Well, it didn't work. I finally had to give in and
remove most of the exaust to get to the front flange and little by little got it
out.
Problem: I beat the end of the mount, where the cap is supposed to
come out, until I distorted its shape. I worked for an hour trying to force
that little junky cap out and it stopped on both sides right at the clip
groove. CRAP!!! Well my neighbor suggested a little grinding drill bit to
grind the inside. It worked great!
Lesson learned: don't beat the flange. neighbors are great resources.
don't try the short cut. hammers hurt fingers.
Other suggestions: use wood under what you are beating. take your
time. pray BEFORE the problem arises.
If anyone wants more info, just ask.
Please help me on my CV-joint question.
Kevin
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