puttin on new U joints....?
 

i have a 1997 s10 Blazer 2x2.. i was woundering how to replace the u joints on my driveshaft from the trans to the rear diff.. can some1 help me??!!

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

Let me see if I can get this right.

Basically, remove the bolts holding the driveshaft to the yoke on the rear diff. Drop the driveshaft down and pull the slip yoke out of the back of the transmission. You may get some ATF dribbling out the back of the transmission, but that's ok. I believe that the u joints on an s-series use an external snap ring to hold the cups in. You'll have to remove the snap rings before removing the cups. I have always used properly sized sockets and a bench vice to remove and reinstall the cups.

Just make sure that everything is greased properly and that you do not lose any of the little rollers inside of the cups!

Good Luck

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

As Kyle said. And I would like to add a tip, if you do the U-Joint for the front yoke make sure that you mark it before you take it apart so that the yoke and driveline are matched back up so as not to unbalance the combination. I had worked in an Auto shop as a young teen and some mechanics did not mark the yoke to the driveline and customers came back claiming there was a vibration still. So just as a precaution when i have to do u-joints especially the front yoke joint I will mark it to make sure that I keep things lined up....

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

Yup, I knew I forgot something. It's been awhile, but I do typically mark both the front and rear yokes to maintain alignment. Never hurts.

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

one thing I have not read, just recently doing this myself, is that if the u-joints are original "factory" you may need to apply heat to the cups if they do not have clips holding them on, the heat will force out injected plastic, allowing the cups to be freed up

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

Hmm... No mention of this in any of my references... That's different.

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

I know GM used to do that, we had a Buck wagon when I was a kid, I want to say it was a '77 but it could have been newer... To get the U joints free'd up my dad took the driveshaft to work with him and put it in a 10 ton press, it took a lot of force but eventually broke free. Years later we helped a friend replace the U joints in a Suburban from the same era and someone suggested a propane torch and big hammer, that approach worked like a charm.

That said, in 20 years GM may have changed their process for installing U joints at the factory.

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

That is how I put my new u-joint in my '98 Blazer. Just took a torch, heated it up 'till the plastic squirted out, then tapped them out. Saves alot of time rather than beating them out.

RE: puttin on new U joints....?
 

biggest thing here is DO NOT LOOSE THE NEEDLE BERINGS if you do you will replace the u-joints again very very soon.