Since the ujs seem to last about 30,000 miles and since I put on
10-12,000 miles annually and there are 3 of them, I basically seem
to end up doing one every year. If you're going to put some
miles on your car, you'll be ahead of the game if you can service
the ujs yourself.
It's really not too difficult, one bolt each for the spring,
shock and radius arm, 4 bolts for the flange, remove the brake line
and emergency brake cable and the whole half shaft comes out.
While the uj can be pressed out with a hydraulic press (which you
don't have) or a big enough vice (which you may not have), it can
also be hammered using a socket. And even if it's just totally
stubbornly, recalcitrantly, completely frozen in place, you can
always take the whole axle shaft assembly to your local garage
and have them finish the job. You'll still be money ahead on labor.
Do you have a good repair manual? It should give you some pretty
good directions on the process. Also this list is always here if
you run into any problems.
Good luck!
Greg Rowe
>From: John Hobson <goalie_john@yahoo.co.uk>
>Reply-To: John Hobson <goalie_john@yahoo.co.uk>
>To: j.carruthers@rave.ac.uk, spitlist <spitfires@autox.team.net>
>CC: John Hobson <goalie_john@yahoo.co.uk>
>Subject: Re: rumble from rear left wheel
>Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:17:00 -0800 (PST)
>
>You can do it yourself, but I think that that the ujs are quite hard to
>press out and get back in again. I wouldn't trust myself to do it, but
>then I'm not very mechanically competant. Not sure I'd have the tools
>either, although you could probably press them out using a g-clamp and a
>small socket or similar. I'll stop thinking out loud now...others on the
>list will probably know how to do this better.
>
>The ujs sit between the diff and the half shaft (transmits the drive to
>the wheels from the diff) allowing the half shaft to move up and down and
>flex a bit with the suspension. It allows the halfshaft to move in the
>same way as your shoulder, sort of. There is also a uj on the propshaft.
>
>Take a look at this link which shows what ujs are(watch out for text
>wrapping):
>
>http://autorepair.about.com/library/glossary/bldef-114.htm?iam=howstuffworks_SKD&terms=universal+joint
>
>cheers
>John & Saskia the 1977 Spit 1500 (on the waiting list for a heart
>transplant...)
>
>--- James Carruthers <j.carruthers@rave.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Labour? Does that mean I can't do it myself? Obviously I could - if I
> > even knew
> > what a universal joint was - but Im guessing it could be difficult?
> >
> > This is kind of scary - I have to admit its been happening about 2
> > weeks now.
> >
> >
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