A few days ago I began to hear a rhythmic rubbery "squeak, squeak, squeak" and it got progressively louder everyday. I drive the '72 about five miles a day. This morning it was very loud so I lifted the car and removed the driveshaft. The U-Joints look original and it was obvious that the transmission end u-joint was bad. I have the '72 repair manual but do not own the press to remove the joints. My u-joints look like nothing I have ever seen before (it been 26 years since I last changed one and that one had snap ring retainers. The U-joints have no visible snap rings and they look like they have caps on all ends but I cannot remove these caps although I am not trying too hard for fear of breaking something. Are those things in fact caps? If so, how do I remove them? Or do I place myself at the mercy of the local garage mechanic who will probably use a 5 pound hammer to get them off? I've looked at all the pages I can find on the net but no pictures look like the u-joints that I have.
Here is a LINK with a good picture of a u-joint with an internal lock clip. This may be what you are looking for. Sorry I can't help any more than that. I one of those guys that uses the hammer ou: :spank:
David,do you have or know someone with a bench vise.You can use sockets to press them out with a bench vise.I would spray some penetrating oil in there first and let them set overnight.
the original Ujoints had plastic injected into a passage around the cup. to disassemble these type you have to heat the joint and the plastic will run out. this picture is after i used a handheld propane torch to heat the ujoint cup
Oooohhhh,yeah.I forgot about that fun.It is kinda neat the way it comes out though.Kinda like the black snakes on the 4th of July. :laugh:
Thanks everyone, The picture that Bob posted is exactly what I have. I do have a heavy duty bench vise but those mushroom heads do not look like they will press through. Or am I imagining things and they will go through?
The nipple is the plastic that needs to be heated up and it will come out on it's own.It is also what keeps the u-joint in place instead of snap rings.The new u-joints with snap rings will work just fine because they retain the u-joint from the inside of the yoke.Once you spray and heat the u-joint,it should press out of the yoke with a little "gentle" persuasion and some sockets .Just make sure and use a little emery cloth or fine sandpaper to clean up the inside of the yokes before installing the new u-joints. :TU:
shop I took mine to a drive shaft place (Houston Drivetrain)and they only charged me $45 for parts and labor. I am able to do it myself, but for that price I wasnt going to do it. I dropped it off at 10AM and picked it back up at noon. Check out a few driveshaft shops in your area. Shawn Carlin
new joints you will buy will use a clip (usually an inside C clip) the original joint didnt use a clip but instead used what GM called a nylon injector ring. you dont have to heat the unit or nylon injector ring to remove the cap. all you need to do is use a press. it will press it apart without the heat and the mess. ball joint presses can be "free rentaled" from many auto parts stores. you buy the tool and can use it and then return it with in a certain amount of time to get a full refund. it is a free tool rental program that autozone, o'rielleys and many other chains support.
Again, thanks for all the replies. I opted for the easy way out and took the driveshaft to the local garage. It cost me $70 to replace both with greasable u-joints which I thought was a fair price. My only complaint is that my grease gun fitting could not fit into the rear zerk. I had to drop the drive shaft, put some clamps on the bearing cups, insert grease and re-install, which makes me wonder, If I could not get a grease gun into the fittings with the drive shaft installed, how in the world will my local oil and lube place do it?
