Do you have a link on that grease gun adapter you used, I have greasable U-joints on my Tahoe and hate using the "needle" style, would love to try what you used.
I've been putting U Joints in vehicles for more than 50 years. And yet here I sit watching (and enjoying) the guy on RUclips putting in U Joints! Eric's the best...
I remember going on a field trip when I was in Vo-Tech school for auto mechanics in 1975 or 1976 to a company that specialized in U-joint work. They pointed out holes in their ceiling from the plastic retained caps would blow out when they heated them up to remove them. I think they were just recently introduced by GM on the constant velocity type driveshafts.
@@stevea6722 1975 Camaro had that style bearing cap retainer and straps, I bent the straps and the driveshaft spit out of the yoke. I would have preferred GM used the "U"bolt type retainers like Ford and Chrysler used.
Always nice when the mechanic tells the customer what the vehicle needs to fix an issue, and then the customer give the OK to actually help take care of the problem. Why people bring a vehicle in only to try and "cheap" around the actual fix is beyond me. Just never made sense to me. Nice job!
Well, sometimes, the shop is a rip-off. My mother in Las Vegas (2,000 miles away from me) took her Equinox to a Pep Boys due to a cam timing solenoid code. I told her, "Avoid the dealer. It's a simple job that should take about twenty minutes if the mechanic is blind and missing an arm." She was quoted $575 in labor... Needless to say, I ripped the service write a new one over the phone. I then proceeded to drive for three days to Las Vegas to do the job for her. I go, "Mom, stand right here and watch how simple this job is." After the ten minute swap of both intake and exhaust, she goes, "Is that all there is to it? Boy, some people are just thieves."
This brings back memories. Back in the '70s I worked in my dad's service station. We always used a vice and a couple of sockets to press u-joints out, including on GM's nylon injected ones. They were always stubborn but would let go. I expected to hear the classic "front is back and back is front", but then I noticed the zerks were in the middle on your parts.
Same here. I worked in a fleet repair shop, and those nylon joint retainers were never an issue, and never heated them up. I don't know what the big deal is about people making a fuss over them.
I press mine in with my bench vise. Taught that by an elderly mechanic when i wasjust starting in the mechanic field back in 1969. Done it that way ever since!
I used to do tons of these back in the day when I was a mechanic up in Washington state. Always enjoyed taking the torch to these and watch them squeeze out the hole.
As much as I love Vic, I have to say that the real hero of the shop, other than Mr O, is the cart. Always there, ready to go, if not always within reach.
Sir, your channel is a God send! Most channels show work on rust free cars, and I’m north of the border, and working on my rust buckets is a totally different thing… you are now part of my RUclips university!
Bird chirp noise made me think of the story from 40 years ago about the Cadillac with undiagnosable noise problems. Finally using a cutting torch as the preferred tool, the mechanic found a soda bottle in a box beam. It had a note from a disgruntled assembler: "Betcha had a hard time finding *this* one."
I had a 62 Chevy Bel Air back in the early 79'd that had the worst smell. Finally found an old lunch in a paper bag in the area of the trunk between the trunk and the rear quarter pannel. No note, but had to be out there on assembly line. Very tough to get out too! Assembly line workers were goofy, even back in 62!
Great work, as always! I just had to get my 07' GMC SIERRA 2500 HD done. 1st shop told me they replaced rear pinion seal. Seal continued to leak.. 2nd shop( got new tires, they don't deal with rear diffs). Told me 1st shop NEVER even put a wrench on it! 😡 Could see they never did ,had pics to prove it. Took it to a local garage, they added fluid, it was almost empty! Then drove it, and confirmed my suspicion about U JOINTS. So, they did them. Mine needed front and rear on driveshaft as my rig has almost 225k on her.The worn joints caused pinion seal to get messed up. So they did the u-joints and pinion seal and whatever else it needed back there. Anyways, thanks for the great content! Especially CHEVY/GM. Cheers from Pennsylvania!
@quantumleap359 The 1st shop has no greasing scruples. They could care less! They 'fixed it', prior to my buying the truck. All they did was clean it up, and freakin send it! No wrench marks or anything. They dealer paid them. Oh well, his loss. I'm glad I've got it FIXED correctly now. Shop actually kept me informed, every step of the process. This garage will be my go to, from now on. As my previous long time mech Shop has retired from the business.
Back when I was a teenager, I knew a lady who owned an auto parts store, and she had an MGB as her "fun car". I would spend time at her store and would make deliveries and run errands for her, and she would let me drive the MGB. This little sports car was prone to u-joint failure to the point that she kept a spare u-joint and a pair of pliers in the car, and she would replace the joint on the side of the road!
Just did all 4 of mine on my 06 avalanche. One thing I've found that works good for the average diy guy is to save an old hub bearing and knock the studs out. Drive shaft fits over center hole perfect to use socket to knock caps out. 8lb sledge knocks them out with 2 or 3 good taps
I was changing one years ago with the heat method and one of the caps shot out, hit the fluorescent light and busted both tubes! If there is a little grease left they will come flying out of the yoke! That Suburban looked very clean underneath.
A junk yard guy told me always drill 1/8 inch hole in the bearing cap of the u-joint, so when you cut the cross with a torch the pressure would be relieved and the cap wouldn't shoot out like a bullet.
yeah, they can eject forcefully if lots of grease and sealed well/rusted squeezed seal. you can drill a small hole in the caps first if worried, or just make sure you and nothing else is in line with their trajectory. 🤪
I have watched you for years and never have made a comment. I have lurked long enough to watch your hair and beard turn just like mine. Just makes us look that much better!!!!! I watch your vids to learn things and also for entertainment. Keep it up, you are No. 1 in my book.
Always love to see Vic the torch come out on a job and on a GM U-joint I can't blame you for going straight to him loving videos as always Eric especially a good heat and beat
I thought it was funny that you showed the entire process to get them ready to push out like normal, then cut it off anyway! I love it, it's always great to see your mastery of the cutting torch! Plus, it's a lot more fun for you, too
I worked at my Dad's service station for several years and I did a bunch of the plastic joints... 20 to 50 of them. I lost count. You were doing good until you cut the cross out with a torch. I never had to do that. It would be easier to make a sketch... You take the the two loose caps off. Open your vice up, so you set the cross on top of the vice jaws, with one of the "plastic" caps facing up. Do NOT clamp anything with the vise. Heat up the drive shaft yoke until the plastic is oozing out... Then give the yoke a good tap or two with a small sledge hammer; driving the drive shaft down. And the cap pops up. Rotate the shaft and repeat on the other cap. The cross will then come out. Since you're heating the yoke loop to blow the plastic, it's also expanding the loop metal, and reduces the press fit. So, just hit it before the heat dissipates.
Thanks for the video, of all the u-joint videos I've seen, you're the only one that mentions the c clips should face the yoke ive seen so many videos of guys installing the c clip facing the opposite direction..👍👍
Scott, you have videos to edit!!! Whatcha doin dawdlin 😂😂 You are correct sir, most grease zertz(sp) are installed by the manufacturer in hopes the customer forgets them. Great video Eric O
Excellent video. Watched the entire job on a truck I will ever own simply because I learned something and the step by step was better than 99% of those found on RUclips.
Eric reminds me of a guy I use to work with at an Chevron station down in Austin, Texas as that guy called every engine he worked on: The Big (insert engine size). Did not matter if it was a Tech 4, or a big block 460, it was always the big something. I asked that guy one day, why he called every engine he worked on: The Big (whatever), his response was: Because I do not want any engine I work on to develop an inferiority complex. I had to laugh at that, as I just loved his response to my question.
Eric did a great job on this, just wanted to warn the diy guys that the u joint needs the rotate free, if it is tight it will fail or cause a vibration, taping on the flanges usually works ( like he did), but if it is still tight, take it back out and hit the inside of the flanges again with a grinder
Love love the fact that you work with two hands!!! It's udderly sp lol frustrating to watch someone work with one hand and film with the other!! It creates so many awkward and excessive delays in doing the job!
Ah, this brings back memories. Your attention to detail is superb. To install the new caps and cross, I always used a couple sockets and a vise, but this way works too. Thanks for another great video!
juggling sockets and using the vice is still the way I do them, I've also used an arbor press and ball joint press. obviously I don't replace them daily and the vice is the readiest thing, with sockets laying right beside it. :)
I remember the very first Eric O video I ever saw was about an hour and a half long from what I can recall and I watched it from start to finish. My comment was the same I can't believe I watched the whole thing. Several years later like this video I'm still watching the whole thing. The only drama is when a bolt or clip wants to be a tough guy and not even a moment later its just a short history lesson. This was fun thanks for putting this up!
I just use a press, no heat. Had no idea a torch was a method. Lol After new ujoint I tap the new assy towards the caps to insure it moves freely. Peace my friend. Love your videos
In Feb of 1982 my 73 dodge Coronet u joints were shaking me out of the car on my way home from work at 0745pm. I made it to Trak Auto just before they closed. It was 5 degrees outside. I changed those bastards right in their parking lot with 2 farmers jacks and a raovak flashlight from RadioShack. The employees leaving the store were in awe. I got those babies on at the cost of extreme shrinkage and near frostbit fingers. Drove outta that lot like a boss. God I miss that car.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who uses guild Junior high School TV carts in my shop. You can usually get those things for about five bucks each at the city auctions.
Thanks for the info. I replaced the U joints on my old 1963 Belair over 45 years ago and am now aware that my newer GM vehicles have Nylon injection retainers.
Last year I replaced ALL the u joints on my 95 F250 4x4 including the front axle shafts All with Spicer joints for a little extra security. Great video Mr. O
I had a local shop rebuild the driveshaft on my 1985 F-150 with Spicer non-greaseable u-joints. Glad I went with them after hearing your vote of confidence.
I can smell this vid. I did an exhaust repair on an 08 Durango Hemi with 311307 miles on it, and the U joint at the rear diff still had the nylon retained OEM joint in it. That's one of those Unicorn Mopars. I like to say that the joint is "making cinnamon" when I see rust dust, pro tip, _it is not as good as real cinnamon_ !
My go-to scrap yard is right across the street from the area's transit authority heavy equipment repair facility. As such, they scrap some choice bounty -- huge bearings, monster center links, and all kinds of other stuff. During one visit I scored dozens of thick bolts and nuts -- I'm always on the lookout for hydraulic press tooling. And with a lathe, I can cut those thick bolts down to any perfect diameter I need for driving, pressing, beating, and whatnot.
Back in the '70s & '80s we did a lot of these mostly off of Caddys and Buicks. We used a berzamatic torch and a brass hammer to drive 'em out. Hit them with a wire brush and some emory cloth inside the shaft once they were cooled down. We'd charge $20 a piece to put them in a removed shaft. It was only about 15 min work, but we'd tell em pick it up in 2 hrs.
I had a 1987 Monte Carlo with the factory glued in u-joints. They were bad. So I changed them. The car then had a horrible vibration. Took shaft out, checked everything. I gave up and took it to a drive shaft shop. The owner walked in, just glanced at the shaft and says "Let me guess.....GM shaft you changed u-joints now it vibrates." Yes. Bring the shaft follow me. He put the shaft in his lathe, the front yoke / u-joint was 1/4" off center, the rear was 1/8" off center. "I get these all the time because GM cheaped out putting these together." They just slam the end yokes in the tubes, eyeball straightness and weld it. The u-joint then is pressed in centering the the "shaft" but not centered in the yoke and the nylon is squirted in. He popped both u-joints out, cut both yokes lose, tapped them into the tubes. Then used a dial indicator to center them before welding. Both ends were less than .0001 off. Rebalanced with new Spicer u-joints. The car was perfect then.
Spicer sealed ujoints always outlast any other greasable ujoint for me. Doesn't matter how often I grease them, they don't last as long as a Spicer sealed.
I remember the time I did this on my 77 El Camino. Used my plumbers torch and enjoyed watching that plastic ooze out until the heat in the bearing cup boiled the grease and it went BANG and knocked the wind out of me and scared the plastic out of me.
I was taught to make sure that the grease fitting area was being closed rather than opening as the driveshaft was making the vehicle more forward. (Yes, a run-on sentence)
Thanks Eric O, for a good review of these type of U joints. Your experience and skill, tips and tricks to getting the job done in a quick manner always amazes me. I learn a bunch just watching your channel.
I cut the U-joints out with my torch out aswell, its the quickest way.. i noticed you didn't set your torch to neutral flame while holding the oxygen lever down, thats how i set my torch and it cuts like a laser beam, my oxygen is set to 35 p.s.i. And my acetylene is set to 7 p.s.i. Love your videos man keep up the good work!😊
Same thing on my 05 Silverado. Not too much trouble to change, even laying on your back in the driveway. Just lose some fluid out the trans you gotta add back. I just took a wire brush in the drill and heated it up and spun it inside the ear and it flipped that plastic right out no problem. Nice to see an 05 up there still on the road. My opinion some of the best years Chevy made. Take care. btw...I call my torch, "Bubbles", cause it'll make that metal bubble for real..LOL
Oh no ! I saw the blue trousers and gloves along with "joint replacement " on the thumb nail and for a minute thought that you were doing a terrible operation on Mrs O's arm. . . . Ha Ha, have a great weekend.
SKF is a top brand, they make the best automotive ball bearings on the planet, lasting hundreds of thousands of miles. Never had trouble with their stuff, from a car manufacturer or from aftermarket. As long as you don't buy a fake SKF part, you will never have any trouble with it.
Just for the sake of commenting, I once drove a 72 Pinto from Phoenix to San Diego and back with a rear u-joint missing all the needle bearings! Replaced and kept driving. That was a tough simple car.
The first time I encountered these things I wasn’t sure how to get it apart so I built a fire in a metal bucket and sit it down in the fire,went about my business and shortly it popped apart Boom good to go
In all the years of wrenching, i've never come across these types! Just shows no one has all the knowledge. Not having a torch, i used my BBQ grill to heat up the cap worked fine. And i did use a cutoff wheel to slice the ujoint ends off. I think one could just drive the joint caps out without cutting the Cross. Next time i'll try that. Great video again.....Thanks SMA! Only "trick" here is driving a new J cap in without dislodging needle bearings in the cap. Be sure to hold the cross in the cap end,or press it in. If you dislodge a needle in the cap. You wont get the clip in. Also.. sometimes driving it in the joint can bind so tap the cap ends to seat the caps.
One tip I'd give away for free, is to use the bench-vise when installing the new joint. I dont like beating the new ones into the yoke. Go slow and steady. Ive had to use the hammer method to beat new ones in, but a bench-vise is smoother and doesnt allow for a bigger mistake to happen.
Tuesday made me wish the 2009 avalanche used the nylon instead, the snap rings that held mine in were rusted solid, wound up having to break the snap rings out and that’s not easy. Still had to cut my u joint out after it was all said and done, too. Great work Eric, we all appreciate it!
Mr. O outstanding transfer of knowledge. Your videos are so fun and relaxing to watch they are like cotton candy for the mind. And in the words of Florida Ray, A real “Pop-n-z hood” and “stay tune, this is going to be a very good 👍 video”. Thank you.
I made my own fitting to grease these types of u-joints. At least it worked on my 1986 Toyota 4-Runner. I just applied the grease fitting on my grease gun to the face of my grinder and flattened 2 sides. It slipped right on to the zerk and greased that fitting slicker than, well, grease.
I've put a hundred of those in. Usually heat the first cap until the plastic starts coming out then lay the u joint cross across the the vice jaws and rap the driveshaft beside the cap and the cap pops out, then do the other side. Very little torch use that way and at $300 a tank for acetylene you need to use the torch sparingly. The plastic will be sheered off that way and won't have to be removed either. Done a bunch of the double cv u joints this way too.
I think Sometimes you get a bad comment and block the wrong person been blocked from commenting for a week never made a bad comment in my life not my style if I don’t like it I just don’t watch and I love all your videos 😊
Just a thought, when you are pounding on something on a work bench , always try to pound above a leg. You get more per your hit because the bounce is eliminated and also won't be as loud
I did a front u-joint on a '66 Mercury S/W on the side of a forestry road with a hydraulic jack and a hammer at 11:00 pm. No issues except had to grease it beforehand. Drove it 60 miles home; checked and pumped full of grease. Lasted 50k before I sold it.
This brought back memories of doing the U joints in my 89 Chev Caprice. Was using the torch to heat up the plastic and watching it ooze out - must have been pressure built up in one of the caps as it suddenly hit me square in the chest - ouch. Hot U joint cap hit my T shirt and left a nasty little circular mark on my skin for a few weeks. Have since learned to wear a welders apron when doing jobs like this and using a torch - please be careful when heating the caps as pressure can build up if the grease gets trapped!
I used to take a brake wheel cylinder flex hone and wd40 and zip it in and out of the cap holes a couple of times in the shaft. Always came out shiny clean.
I have replaced hundreds of U joints on the PTO shafts of farm equipment. Basically the same process,but the shafts are normally very long. I preferred the vise and socket method of installing the caps.
Nice to see someone else with a well used punch with the end mushroomed out to make a larger target for you to still miss and hit your hand. I've never seen one of that type of u-joints, not one of GM's best ideas I would think. Great video as usual, Eric.
Eric O. Done many. Sure does stink. Sometimes it will go Bam! Like an M-80. I never cut the cross though, always just blasted it out with a BFH, and reassemble it the same way you did. I never took the time to clean out the groove in the yoke either. I only just learned of Fluid Film, so I always coated everything with Wheel Bearing Grease for me for the next time or the next guy. You are very comprehensive, meticulous and very complete. Thank You for doing videos of such Super High Quality Work. And I'm one to know it when I see it after seeing so many carpet-bagger/ hacks. You Are a Quadruple-A credit to America. ben/ michigan
When I was replacing U-joints to clean the yoke/shaft where the caps go. I measured the I.D. and from Snap-On I bought a small brake cylinder Flex hone in the size needed and that will clean them out nicely. Always added an extra touch of grease to the needle bearing helps keep them in place as you pound them into place. Worked in an automotive machine shop for a while and got pretty good at GM's CV joints. I did not mind R&R U-joints.
I did a U joint on my car years ago with those plastic retainers on it. I used a propane torch to heat them up and the plastic exploded out of those caps and burned the crap out of my hands and arms!! When it exploded it sounded like a firecracker!!!
I still remember the first one of them I changed, trying to press it out without heating and cussing up a storm, then I thought maybe there was some kind of set screw or clip behind the bumps and tried drilling it out. after two hours of cussing I realized when drilling it melted and then got the idea to use the plumbing torch. later I discovered using my giant roofing/ice melt torch blasts the whole joint at once, especially good for the front joint. just need some good gloves to handle it.
Of course its easy with a big torch. But using a propane/map gas torch its a pain in the ass. I just did both driveshaft U-Joints on my 2000 GMC Jimmy Diamond Edition and i ended up getting an aluminum driveshaft from a 04 GMC Envoy Denali and then new u joints because the OG driveshaft was rusted so bad. But that nylon was a nightmare to get out and knocking the caps out was difficult. Just an FYI for anyone who doesnt have the big boy torch. Its not as easy as it looks. And ive been doing this for 14 years.
I use a ball joint press. Just the C clamp. It works great at taking them out and installing them. No more torch. I never really liked heating up the driveshaft anyway.
Been using heat on nylon joints for decades myself, then replace them with a small ball pien hammer, always been a fan of the heat especially when replacing front shocks on Ford I-Beam suspension, Those radius arm studs on the bottom always break off without the heat wrench, and the arms are no fun replacing when a stud breaks.
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Could you write the name of that U-joint you recommend down here in comments. I'm not picking up on the name.
@@davide.s.9880 spicer ujoint
@@davide.s.9880 Spicer spicerparts.com/parts/driveshaft/automotive/spicer-light-vehicle-u-joints
Do you have a link on that grease gun adapter you used, I have greasable U-joints on my Tahoe and hate using the "needle" style, would love to try what you used.
Did some research and I believe I found the adapter myself looks like a Lock N Lube Recessed Fitting Adapter SKU: LNL128
I've been putting U Joints in vehicles for more than 50 years. And yet here I sit watching (and enjoying) the guy on RUclips putting in U Joints! Eric's the best...
Same here, apprenticed in the late 70s
Been in the smoke-wrenching Auto Repair business for 44 years. I love to watch Eric Bang and Burn. Great Job!
I remember going on a field trip when I was in Vo-Tech school for auto mechanics in 1975 or 1976 to a company that specialized in U-joint work. They pointed out holes in their ceiling from the plastic retained caps would blow out when they heated them up to remove them. I think they were just recently introduced by GM on the constant velocity type driveshafts.
My 1996 GMC Yukon had the plastic retained journal caps.
I had the displeasure of replacing constant velocity U joints on some of the old classic barges of the 70's. I hated those things. lol
@@stevea6722 1975 Camaro had that style bearing cap retainer and straps, I bent the straps and the driveshaft spit out of the yoke. I would have preferred GM used the "U"bolt type retainers like Ford and Chrysler used.
Did anybody else blow on the screen to get rid of the smoke 😮
@@mazomopar2156 no I walked away couldn't stand the smell, thanks that made me laugh
Always nice when the mechanic tells the customer what the vehicle needs to fix an issue, and then the customer give the OK to actually help take care of the problem. Why people bring a vehicle in only to try and "cheap" around the actual fix is beyond me. Just never made sense to me. Nice job!
Well, sometimes, the shop is a rip-off. My mother in Las Vegas (2,000 miles away from me) took her Equinox to a Pep Boys due to a cam timing solenoid code. I told her, "Avoid the dealer. It's a simple job that should take about twenty minutes if the mechanic is blind and missing an arm."
She was quoted $575 in labor... Needless to say, I ripped the service write a new one over the phone. I then proceeded to drive for three days to Las Vegas to do the job for her. I go, "Mom, stand right here and watch how simple this job is."
After the ten minute swap of both intake and exhaust, she goes, "Is that all there is to it? Boy, some people are just thieves."
This brings back memories.
Back in the '70s I worked in my dad's service station. We always used a vice and a couple of sockets to press u-joints out, including on GM's nylon injected ones. They were always stubborn but would let go.
I expected to hear the classic "front is back and back is front", but then I noticed the zerks were in the middle on your parts.
Same here. I worked in a fleet repair shop, and those nylon joint retainers were never an issue, and never heated them up. I don't know what the big deal is about people making a fuss over them.
I press mine in with my bench vise. Taught that by an elderly mechanic when i wasjust starting in the mechanic field back in 1969. Done it that way ever since!
This is the way.
Always loads of wisdom, knowledge and smiles to be had from you Sir. This was no exception.
Lots of fun again. Thanks Mr. O!!!
I used to do tons of these back in the day when I was a mechanic up in Washington state. Always enjoyed taking the torch to these and watch them squeeze out the hole.
Step #1 of any repair in the salt belt, fire up the gas axe!!!!!! So glad I moved South!!!
As much as I love Vic, I have to say that the real hero of the shop, other than Mr O, is the cart. Always there, ready to go, if not always within reach.
Sir, your channel is a God send! Most channels show work on rust free cars, and I’m north of the border, and working on my rust buckets is a totally different thing… you are now part of my RUclips university!
Bird chirp noise made me think of the story from 40 years ago about the Cadillac with undiagnosable noise problems. Finally using a cutting torch as the preferred tool, the mechanic found a soda bottle in a box beam. It had a note from a disgruntled assembler: "Betcha had a hard time finding *this* one."
I had a 62 Chevy Bel Air back in the early 79'd that had the worst smell. Finally found an old lunch in a paper bag in the area of the trunk between the trunk and the rear quarter pannel. No note, but had to be out there on assembly line. Very tough to get out too! Assembly line workers were goofy, even back in 62!
Great work, as always! I just had to get my 07' GMC SIERRA 2500 HD done. 1st shop told me they replaced rear pinion seal. Seal continued to leak.. 2nd shop( got new tires, they don't deal with rear diffs). Told me 1st shop NEVER even put a wrench on it! 😡
Could see they never did ,had pics to prove it. Took it to a local garage, they added fluid, it was almost empty! Then drove it, and confirmed my suspicion about U JOINTS. So, they did them. Mine needed front and rear on driveshaft as my rig has almost 225k on her.The worn joints caused pinion seal to get messed up. So they did the u-joints and pinion seal and whatever else it needed back there.
Anyways, thanks for the great content! Especially CHEVY/GM.
Cheers from Pennsylvania!
I hope you went after that crooked 1st shop! I hate liars and thieves! They should be ashamed, but I'm sure they are not....
@quantumleap359
The 1st shop has no greasing scruples. They could care less! They 'fixed it', prior to my buying the truck.
All they did was clean it up, and freakin send it! No wrench marks or anything. They dealer paid them.
Oh well, his loss. I'm glad I've got it FIXED correctly now. Shop actually kept me informed, every step of the process. This garage will be my go to, from now on. As my previous long time mech Shop has retired from the business.
*freakin* not greasing! Lol
Been a tech for 50 years your the first guy I have seen cut out a U joint like that makes sense wont damage the yoke buy hammering out the old joint.
if you have or had small kids i bet they loved you telling them a bed time story ,lots of fun to listen to your stories
I am not a mechanic but like to see how things are done. You have a great sense of humor.
Protect your jugular. Ha
Back when I was a teenager, I knew a lady who owned an auto parts store, and she had an MGB as her "fun car". I would spend time at her store and would make deliveries and run errands for her, and she would let me drive the MGB. This little sports car was prone to u-joint failure to the point that she kept a spare u-joint and a pair of pliers in the car, and she would replace the joint on the side of the road!
Just did all 4 of mine on my 06 avalanche. One thing I've found that works good for the average diy guy is to save an old hub bearing and knock the studs out. Drive shaft fits over center hole perfect to use socket to knock caps out. 8lb sledge knocks them out with 2 or 3 good taps
No hammer is too big.
I did all 4 this way. It indeed is not too big. You can swing a smaller hammer twice as many times if you want. I prefer to work smarter not harder.
You only own shallow sockets?
Tappy-Tap 🛠
The brakecleen can on the bench behind the vise with a high powered smoke wrench was pretty scarey!!
I was changing one years ago with the heat method and one of the caps shot out, hit the fluorescent light and busted both tubes! If there is a little grease left they will come flying out of the yoke! That Suburban looked very clean underneath.
A junk yard guy told me always drill 1/8 inch hole in the bearing cap of the u-joint, so when you cut the cross with a torch the pressure would be relieved and the cap wouldn't shoot out like a bullet.
yeah, they can eject forcefully if lots of grease and sealed well/rusted squeezed seal. you can drill a small hole in the caps first if worried, or just make sure you and nothing else is in line with their trajectory. 🤪
Remove the zerk fitting first
Brings back memories from when all I owned was GM rear wheel drive cars and trucks. Chased many a worm from the u-joints with the torch.
I have watched you for years and never have made a comment. I have lurked long enough to watch your hair and beard turn just like mine. Just makes us look that much better!!!!! I watch your vids to learn things and also for entertainment. Keep it up, you are No. 1 in my book.
When I was a kid in the 70s I beat the bark off a driveshaft before my dad taught me about the plastic worm
Your videos have good commentary and don't waste people's time but are concise and full of good commentary along every step of the way
good job Mr O, I have done hundreds of those in my 43 years as a mechanic, I use my OTC ball joint press to put them in, it works great
Always love to see Vic the torch come out on a job and on a GM U-joint I can't blame you for going straight to him loving videos as always Eric especially a good heat and beat
I thought it was funny that you showed the entire process to get them ready to push out like normal, then cut it off anyway! I love it, it's always great to see your mastery of the cutting torch! Plus, it's a lot more fun for you, too
cause he wanted to see the worm
@@price9195 I can relate
Watching the torch cut through metal like it's butta never gets old.
I worked at my Dad's service station for several years and I did a bunch of the plastic joints... 20 to 50 of them. I lost count.
You were doing good until you cut the cross out with a torch. I never had to do that.
It would be easier to make a sketch...
You take the the two loose caps off.
Open your vice up, so you set the cross on top of the vice jaws, with one of the "plastic" caps facing up.
Do NOT clamp anything with the vise.
Heat up the drive shaft yoke until the plastic is oozing out...
Then give the yoke a good tap or two with a small sledge hammer; driving the drive shaft down. And the cap pops up.
Rotate the shaft and repeat on the other cap.
The cross will then come out.
Since you're heating the yoke loop to blow the plastic, it's also expanding the loop metal, and reduces the press fit. So, just hit it before the heat dissipates.
Yes, works very well.
@@wssides Thanks... Of course, the worse was assembly and dropping a needle, or thinking you did!
Thanks for the video, of all the u-joint videos I've seen, you're the only one that mentions the c clips should face the yoke ive seen so many videos of guys installing the c clip facing the opposite direction..👍👍
Yay - we got the "Welcome to the SMA" intro back!!! thanks!!
You greased that U-joint twice, the first and last time. 🤣
Now you don't have any supporting evidence for that.... ;-)
@@ShainAndrews I support that as a true statement....
Scott, you have videos to edit!!! Whatcha doin dawdlin 😂😂 You are correct sir, most grease zertz(sp) are installed by the manufacturer in hopes the customer forgets them. Great video Eric O
Excellent video. Watched the entire job on a truck I will ever own simply because I learned something and the step by step was better than 99% of those found on RUclips.
So what brand do you prefer
i was happy to here you say- make sure to see grease come out all four caps. as a retired truck mechanic, that is important.
Eric reminds me of a guy I use to work with at an Chevron station down in Austin, Texas as that guy called every engine he worked on: The Big (insert engine size). Did not matter if it was a Tech 4, or a big block 460, it was always the big something. I asked that guy one day, why he called every engine he worked on: The Big (whatever), his response was: Because I do not want any engine I work on to develop an inferiority complex. I had to laugh at that, as I just loved his response to my question.
Perfect job! Made the whole thing look easy. Thanks, Ed H.
Nice to have a can of brakleen ready to put the fire out.
When I was a teenager, I helped my buddy change his nylon retained u-joint. We used a road flare to melt it out. It worked well 🤷♂️
Lube her up, never force it in dry. He gives great life advice along with auto repair tips.
Eric did a great job on this, just wanted to warn the diy guys that the u joint needs the rotate free, if it is tight it will fail or cause a vibration, taping on the flanges usually works ( like he did), but if it is still tight, take it back out and hit the inside of the flanges again with a grinder
Here in England the SKF bearings and UJ's are reckoned to be one of the best and are O/E fitment by many manufacturers.
Spicer, Timken, SKF. All three are quality bearing manufactures.
I'm old fashioned. I prefer replacement parts with grease fittings.
Love love the fact that you work with two hands!!! It's udderly sp lol frustrating to watch someone work with one hand and film with the other!! It creates so many awkward and excessive delays in doing the job!
Ah, this brings back memories. Your attention to detail is superb. To install the new caps and cross, I always used a couple sockets and a vise, but this way works too. Thanks for another great video!
juggling sockets and using the vice is still the way I do them, I've also used an arbor press and ball joint press. obviously I don't replace them daily and the vice is the readiest thing, with sockets laying right beside it. :)
I've used the South Main method frequently when a vise wasn't available.
I remember the very first Eric O video I ever saw was about an hour and a half long from what I can recall and I watched it from start to finish. My comment was the same I can't believe I watched the whole thing. Several years later like this video I'm still watching the whole thing. The only drama is when a bolt or clip wants to be a tough guy and not even a moment later its just a short history lesson. This was fun thanks for putting this up!
A 2005 Chevy still on the road in NY? Wonders never cease...Must have been Mee Maw visiting from TX.
@@45AMT I have a 2002 Trailblazer still on the road in NY.
I just use a press, no heat. Had no idea a torch was a method. Lol
After new ujoint I tap the new assy towards the caps to insure it moves freely. Peace my friend. Love your videos
In Feb of 1982 my 73 dodge Coronet u joints were shaking me out of the car on my way home from work at 0745pm. I made it to Trak Auto just before they closed. It was 5 degrees outside. I changed those bastards right in their parking lot with 2 farmers jacks and a raovak flashlight from RadioShack. The employees leaving the store were in awe. I got those babies on at the cost of extreme shrinkage and near frostbit fingers. Drove outta that lot like a boss. God I miss that car.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who uses guild Junior high School TV carts in my shop. You can usually get those things for about five bucks each at the city auctions.
Ha ha, You knew what it was. I picked mine up at a garage sale like new for $10. Not super duty but handy as a pocket on a shirt.
Thanks for the info. I replaced the U joints on my old 1963 Belair over 45 years ago and am now aware that my newer GM vehicles have Nylon injection retainers.
Last year I replaced ALL the u joints on my 95 F250 4x4 including the front axle shafts All with Spicer joints for a little extra security. Great video Mr. O
I had a local shop rebuild the driveshaft on my 1985 F-150 with Spicer non-greaseable u-joints. Glad I went with them after hearing your vote of confidence.
I can smell this vid. I did an exhaust repair on an 08 Durango Hemi with 311307 miles on it, and the U joint at the rear diff still had the nylon retained OEM joint in it. That's one of those Unicorn Mopars. I like to say that the joint is "making cinnamon" when I see rust dust, pro tip, _it is not as good as real cinnamon_ !
My go-to scrap yard is right across the street from the area's transit authority heavy equipment repair facility. As such, they scrap some choice bounty -- huge bearings, monster center links, and all kinds of other stuff.
During one visit I scored dozens of thick bolts and nuts -- I'm always on the lookout for hydraulic press tooling. And with a lathe, I can cut those thick bolts down to any perfect diameter I need for driving, pressing, beating, and whatnot.
Back in the '70s & '80s we did a lot of these mostly off of Caddys and Buicks. We used a berzamatic torch and a brass hammer to drive 'em out. Hit them with a wire brush and some emory cloth inside the shaft once they were cooled down. We'd charge $20 a piece to put them in a removed shaft. It was only about 15 min work, but we'd tell em pick it up in 2 hrs.
I had a 1987 Monte Carlo with the factory glued in u-joints. They were bad. So I changed them. The car then had a horrible vibration. Took shaft out, checked everything. I gave up and took it to a drive shaft shop. The owner walked in, just glanced at the shaft and says "Let me guess.....GM shaft you changed u-joints now it vibrates." Yes. Bring the shaft follow me. He put the shaft in his lathe, the front yoke / u-joint was 1/4" off center, the rear was 1/8" off center. "I get these all the time because GM cheaped out putting these together." They just slam the end yokes in the tubes, eyeball straightness and weld it. The u-joint then is pressed in centering the the "shaft" but not centered in the yoke and the nylon is squirted in. He popped both u-joints out, cut both yokes lose, tapped them into the tubes. Then used a dial indicator to center them before welding. Both ends were less than .0001 off. Rebalanced with new Spicer u-joints. The car was perfect then.
Spicer sealed ujoints always outlast any other greasable ujoint for me. Doesn't matter how often I grease them, they don't last as long as a Spicer sealed.
I remember the time I did this on my 77 El Camino. Used my plumbers torch and enjoyed watching that plastic ooze out until the heat in the bearing cup boiled the grease and it went BANG and knocked the wind out of me and scared the plastic out of me.
I was taught to make sure that the grease fitting area was being closed rather than opening as the driveshaft was making the vehicle more forward.
(Yes, a run-on sentence)
Thanks Eric O, for a good review of these type of U joints. Your experience and skill, tips and tricks to getting the job done in a quick manner always
amazes me. I learn a bunch just watching your channel.
I was waiting in the "Brakekleen" can to ignite with that torch waving next to it. Joking, always good info. Keep the video coming.
I cut the U-joints out with my torch out aswell, its the quickest way.. i noticed you didn't set your torch to neutral flame while holding the oxygen lever down, thats how i set my torch and it cuts like a laser beam, my oxygen is set to 35 p.s.i. And my acetylene is set to 7 p.s.i. Love your videos man keep up the good work!😊
nothing makes my Friday better than watching Eric O. smoking a joint..Canada eh😎👍🇨🇦
Good day ☀️ south main auto 🌹
Good job 👏🏻
Lawnmower man didn't miss his time to invade the video !
Same thing on my 05 Silverado. Not too much trouble to change, even laying on your back in the driveway. Just lose some fluid out the trans you gotta add back. I just took a wire brush in the drill and heated it up and spun it inside the ear and it flipped that plastic right out no problem. Nice to see an 05 up there still on the road. My opinion some of the best years Chevy made. Take care.
btw...I call my torch, "Bubbles", cause it'll make that metal bubble for real..LOL
Oh no ! I saw the blue trousers and gloves along with "joint replacement " on the thumb nail and for a minute thought that you were doing a terrible operation on Mrs O's arm. . . . Ha Ha, have a great weekend.
SKF is a top brand, they make the best automotive ball bearings on the planet, lasting hundreds of thousands of miles. Never had trouble with their stuff, from a car manufacturer or from aftermarket.
As long as you don't buy a fake SKF part, you will never have any trouble with it.
There is that FAMOUS intro! I kinda liked the cold opens as well. Great video!
Just for the sake of commenting, I once drove a 72 Pinto from Phoenix to San Diego and back with a rear u-joint missing all the needle bearings! Replaced and kept driving. That was a tough simple car.
The first time I encountered these things I wasn’t sure how to get it apart so I built a fire in a metal bucket and sit it down in the fire,went about my business and shortly it popped apart Boom good to go
In all the years of wrenching, i've never come across these types!
Just shows no one has all the knowledge.
Not having a torch, i used my BBQ grill to heat up the cap worked fine.
And i did use a cutoff wheel to slice the ujoint ends off.
I think one could just drive the joint caps out without cutting the Cross.
Next time i'll try that.
Great video again.....Thanks SMA!
Only "trick" here is driving a new J cap in without dislodging needle bearings in the cap.
Be sure to hold the cross in the cap end,or press it in.
If you dislodge a needle in the cap.
You wont get the clip in.
Also.. sometimes driving it in the joint can bind so tap the cap ends to seat the caps.
One tip I'd give away for free, is to use the bench-vise when installing the new joint. I dont like beating the new ones into the yoke. Go slow and steady. Ive had to use the hammer method to beat new ones in, but a bench-vise is smoother and doesnt allow for a bigger mistake to happen.
Out here on the west coast I got away with using a vice and a C-clamp on my 87 V-20 pickup. Did both ends with the top of the line NAPA ujoints.
Tuesday made me wish the 2009 avalanche used the nylon instead, the snap rings that held mine in were rusted solid, wound up having to break the snap rings out and that’s not easy. Still had to cut my u joint out after it was all said and done, too. Great work Eric, we all appreciate it!
At least GM had the sense to keep replaceable u-joints 👍
Mr. O outstanding transfer of knowledge. Your videos are so fun and relaxing to watch they are like cotton candy for the mind. And in the words of Florida Ray, A real “Pop-n-z hood” and “stay tune, this is going to be a very good 👍 video”. Thank you.
I made my own fitting to grease these types of u-joints. At least it worked on my 1986 Toyota 4-Runner. I just applied the grease fitting on my grease gun to the face of my grinder and flattened 2 sides. It slipped right on to the zerk and greased that fitting slicker than, well, grease.
I've put a hundred of those in. Usually heat the first cap until the plastic starts coming out then lay the u joint cross across the the vice jaws and rap the driveshaft beside the cap and the cap pops out, then do the other side. Very little torch use that way and at $300 a tank for acetylene you need to use the torch sparingly. The plastic will be sheered off that way and won't have to be removed either. Done a bunch of the double cv u joints this way too.
I think Sometimes you get a bad comment and block the wrong person been blocked from commenting for a week never made a bad comment in my life not my style if I don’t like it I just don’t watch and I love all your videos 😊
Perfect job! A lot of folks do not center the joint after installing the caps but you did! Gulf caps off to you!
Do the closed end of the clips go towards the dif
Just a thought, when you are pounding on something on a work bench , always try to pound above a leg. You get more per your hit because the bounce is eliminated and also won't be as loud
I did a front u-joint on a '66 Mercury S/W on the side of a forestry road with a hydraulic jack and a hammer at 11:00 pm. No issues except had to grease it beforehand. Drove it 60 miles home; checked and pumped full of grease. Lasted 50k before I sold it.
I like my Tiger Tools u-joint presses. I haven't tried the cheaper copies yet but the Tiger Tool presses make joint replacement almost fun.
This brought back memories of doing the U joints in my 89 Chev Caprice. Was using the torch to heat up the plastic and watching it ooze out - must have been pressure built up in one of the caps as it suddenly hit me square in the chest - ouch. Hot U joint cap hit my T shirt and left a nasty little circular mark on my skin for a few weeks. Have since learned to wear a welders apron when doing jobs like this and using a torch - please be careful when heating the caps as pressure can build up if the grease gets trapped!
I used to take a brake wheel cylinder flex hone and wd40 and zip it in and out of the cap holes a couple of times in the shaft. Always came out shiny clean.
Nice job with the sound effects. I'm glad now that I watched the video that far
I have replaced hundreds of U joints on the PTO shafts of farm equipment. Basically the same process,but the shafts are normally very long. I preferred the vise and socket method of installing the caps.
Nice to see someone else with a well used punch with the end mushroomed out to make a larger target for you to still miss and hit your hand.
I've never seen one of that type of u-joints, not one of GM's best ideas I would think.
Great video as usual, Eric.
it's not mushroomed. It's a bolt
Great job. Helpful and needed for future confidence!
@@SouthMainAuto 😆😆😆
Eric O. Done many. Sure does stink. Sometimes it will go Bam! Like an M-80. I never cut the cross though, always just blasted it out with a BFH, and reassemble it the same way you did. I never took the time to clean out the groove in the yoke either. I only just learned of Fluid Film, so I always coated everything with Wheel Bearing Grease for me for the next time or the next guy. You are very comprehensive, meticulous and very complete. Thank You for doing videos of such Super High Quality Work. And I'm one to know it when I see it after seeing so many carpet-bagger/ hacks. You Are a Quadruple-A credit to America. ben/ michigan
When I was replacing U-joints to clean the yoke/shaft where the caps go. I measured the I.D. and from Snap-On I bought a small brake cylinder Flex hone in the size needed and that will clean them out nicely. Always added an extra touch of grease to the needle bearing helps keep them in place as you pound them into place. Worked in an automotive machine shop for a while and got pretty good at GM's CV joints. I did not mind R&R U-joints.
I did a U joint on my car years ago with those plastic retainers on it. I used a propane torch to heat them up and the plastic exploded out of those caps and burned the crap out of my hands and arms!! When it exploded it sounded like a firecracker!!!
Good Morning PRNY
Like a boss! Have a good weekend team SMA!
Thanks! You too!
I still remember the first one of them I changed, trying to press it out without heating and cussing up a storm, then I thought maybe there was some kind of set screw or clip behind the bumps and tried drilling it out. after two hours of cussing I realized when drilling it melted and then got the idea to use the plumbing torch.
later I discovered using my giant roofing/ice melt torch blasts the whole joint at once, especially good for the front joint. just need some good gloves to handle it.
Swivels are a God send. So are you Mr. O.
Thank You Eric learned something new today didn’t have any idea that gm used plastic in their u-joints
Been using plastic for 40 yrs, where have you been ?
Of course its easy with a big torch. But using a propane/map gas torch its a pain in the ass.
I just did both driveshaft U-Joints on my 2000 GMC Jimmy Diamond Edition and i ended up getting an aluminum driveshaft from a 04 GMC Envoy Denali and then new u joints because the OG driveshaft was rusted so bad. But that nylon was a nightmare to get out and knocking the caps out was difficult.
Just an FYI for anyone who doesnt have the big boy torch. Its not as easy as it looks. And ive been doing this for 14 years.
I use a ball joint press. Just the C clamp. It works great at taking them out and installing them. No more torch. I never really liked heating up the driveshaft anyway.
You should still soften the plastic before pressing out the caps.
That is the way I always did it, you do have to be careful sometimes they literally blow out /up with excessive heat.
Been using heat on nylon joints for decades myself, then replace them with a small ball pien hammer, always been a fan of the heat especially when replacing front shocks on Ford I-Beam suspension, Those radius arm studs on the bottom always break off without the heat wrench, and the arms are no fun replacing when a stud breaks.
My best old friend just Loves 1963 Cadillacs...
He ain't my best old friend no more! Same U-joints.