Universal Joints

[Jim Shepard]

Ok, boys. It looks like I'm in for a joint-job. For the past almost-year I've been getting this strange "clanking" sound coming from under the truck, especially when I start out in first and when starting out in second. I hadn't noticed anything odd about the driveline before but when I was under the truck yesterday I noticed a definite sloppyness in the rear driveline at the universal joint. Less so in the front joint at the transmission.

The manual (Crank and Hope) is not very clear (in my mind) on the procedure for fixing this; in fact, I'm not even sure my type of joint is even mentioned. The illustrations don't look anything like my joints. My truck has fluid drive and the rear joint is a combination of u-bolts and clips. I went to the local Napa store this morning and they only listed the all-clip type.

The procedure looks fairly straight-forward and I'm going to do it; however, I thought I'd post the question anyway - is there anything I should be aware of or look out for?

[Jim Shepard]

OK, I got the drive line apart. The joint is a combo clip and u-bolt setup. The u-bolt piece came apart pretty easily - in fact one of the roller bushings didn't have any rollers left. It looks like the grease passage gummed up and the thing was completely dry. I've removed the clips from the other two bushings but I can't seem to dislodge them from the joint. The manual says to tap on the drive line but that doesn't work. They're pretty-well stuck. I've sprayed WD40 on them and I'll get back to it tomorrow.

[Young Ed]

See thread on the car side. Step up to liquid wrench or another penetrating oil. WD40 isnt really intended for that.

[Jim Shepard]

I removed the entire drive line. I've decided to take it to a local drive line specialty shop. That way it can be checked out for balance, etc.