I was wondering if you guys could help me out here. I am going to replace my u joints (both) and needed to know what I need to do this, ex. any special tools or procedures?
thanks

 

My 96 has a stock driveshaft so the u-joints were nylon pressed. I had to get a torch and heat the nylon holes on the yolk ends and wait for the nylon to snake out. Make sure you heat both sides of the nylon stems really good. After that I put the driveshaft on the ground and placed a big socket under one side of the yolk but big enough for the u-joint to slip through the hole and into the socket. The object is to now get a smaller socket and place it on the U-joint and bang the joint through the other side. Try not to hit the actual Yolk and if you use a vice to hold the shaft..dont dent the driveshaft. Hit the socket to press the joint through the hole. A few good bangs will get it through, you may need to heat it a lil more to get that nylon out. After all that I cleaned up the inside real good and went with a solid u-joint and chose "Brute Force".

torch
hammer
small socket to fit on u-joint surface
big socket to fit under yolk (forgot size sorry) large enough to clear the path of joint going through the hole

 

i did that similar process on my L98's drive shaft. Save yourself the troube its not even close to worth your time, and it is just a giant headache. Take the driveshaft to a shop, they have a special tool to get the u-joint out. I cant imagine them charging you more then im gonna guess 20 or 30 bucks but i have no idea, anything under 40 bucks is completly worth it you dont want to experience how much of a PITA it is to get em out with a hammer and socket

 

Called Pep boys they said i would have to bring it in to see if they could actually do it.
Midas said parts-labor-$269 both front and rear joints
My shiltons manual says to just remove the pin, and have the joints compressed via vice. SO I will tackle it in the morning since I didn't go get drunk at Fiesta downtown

 

Thats just rediculous. You should be able to buy the new U-joints and install the u joints by yourself. All i was sugesting you do is bring your driveshaft to them and have them spend 5-10 minutes popping the old ones out for you, if they want to charge you over 100 dollars to do that then you need to find another shop near you

 

For $269.95, you can get a brand new Lingenfelter 3.5" Aluminum Driveshaft - w/ Splicer U-Joints. Well worth every cent!