Front driveshaft rebuild-Pic heavy

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Okiespaniel

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Hey folks...

Yeah it's the old spaniel here. Thought I'd document the process of rebuilding the front CV shaft on my truck. Yes it's not the rear shaft, but if you've never done u-joints in your life and only have a 2wd its the same process.

As most 4x4 owners know, there's a constant velocity bearing assembly in the center of the rear joint assembly.

Also known as a double cardigan u-joint, this assembly utilizes a ball socket with needle bearings in it on which the front pin shaft shaft resides. It is packed with grease and non greasble and sealled with a grease covered by a rubber boot. A spring provided some overload protection.

What usually happens is when the lubricant is expended the needle bearings gall causing wear on the shaft and then vibration. Or the non greaseable joints dry out causing same. My shaft and all the joints were original.

This tech will be in three sections Removal/disassembly, Reinstalling the joints using a screw press, then installation.

So enough typing...lets get started!

Ok not enough typing. Safety first! Set parking brake! Chock rear wheels if you're on an incline.

When you've secured your Ram, remove the 4 5/16 hex head bolts from the front u-joint. This is easier to do if you place the truck in 4 hi to lock the T-case. A trusted helper in the drivers seat moving the t case between 4h and 2h is very time saving.

Once youve got the front shaft loose from the diff saddle, rotate the shaft in 2 wd until you can get a 5/8 socket on a shaft/tcase bolt. You'll probably need a 6 inch extension and either an air wrench or long ratchet.

When you can get the socket on securely, lock the t case in 4 high and remove the bolt. Repeat the process for the next 3 bolts. What out for the falling shaft!

Next part is removing the double cardian joints. My press hadn't gotten here so I used a bench vise, some old sockets and lots of p/b blaster. Remove the snap rings and discard.

Make sure you use a punch or a light drill mark to make slight alignment marks in the 3 pieces. You'll want to reassemble the shaft in the same manner you took it apart for balancing purposes.

You should be able to see the marks I made in the first pic.. I made them deep because I thought I'd powder coat everything. Decided that was too much trouble and would affect balance.

6989-ds1.jpg


I removed the cv clamps, boot and front joint. The bearing caps were dry but salvagable so I'll repack it for a spare. The boot shows some slight dry rot so I'll replace it, with the clamps.

6988-ds2.jpg


Here's a better shot of the marks I made.

6987-ds3.jpg


Here's the front shaft with the trunuion the needle bearings in the ball socket ride on. You can see the ribber seal/boot that protects it is toast! I knocked the seal off with a flat chisel. Will have the trunion shaft mic'd to see if it's with in specs. Should be .500.

6986-ds4.jpg


6986-ds4.jpg


Here's the old ball socket, sans needle bearings and spring. I have to have a special puller and hydraulic press to remove and install so I'll take this to a local shop.

6985-ds5.jpg


I took the front shaft in and had the trunion mic'd at .49995. Close enough!
The same shop also sold spicer u-joints and what I needed in stock.

I went with a greasable in the front diff and non greasables in the cv shaft.

The shop also pulled the ball socket and pressed in a new one with a new grease seal. Total cost for parts labor and the 3 new u-jonts was about 90 bucks.

The tape in the pic holds the new preload springs and the cardboard protector for the needle bearings in place.

6984-ds6.jpg


This concludes the first section. Time for :birgits_tiredcoffee
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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Ok...:birgits_tiredcoffee mmm good coffee honey!

Before I put everything back together I deceded to sand, treat, a paint the shaft and it's compnents. I used old u-joint caps to cover the holes. I wirebrushed as much as I could using my drill press, then treated it with spray rust coverter.

6983-ds7.jpg


OK..I also disapointed because spicer is NO LONGER an American made product...

6982-ds8.jpg


Long **** Silver? Nope just the front shaft. Don't worry...the aluminum topcoat takes on a nice sheen as it gets handled.

6981-ds9.jpg


6980-ds10.jpg


My press hadn't arrived yet so I pressed in the front joint with my bench vise.

6979-ds11.jpg


There's a special tool made to press on the new boot, but I used my 12 pt hub nut socket and popped it on.

6978-ds12.jpg


Finally my press arrived Thirsday and I got to work. It makes pressing in the new joints so slick! Yes it also has the Dana 44 ball joint dies :). I clamped the shaft in my vise with thick cardboard V pieces so I would not damage the shaft

Ok..I could've rented a press. The last time I did, I had to go to 2 stores to find a rental that was functional. People don't respect anything anymore and parts stores don't care. So I bought my own. First thing I did was grease it.

6977-ds13.jpg


Here's the fun one. Pack the ball socket with grease. Then, you gotta carefully slide the top assembly over the joint in the ball casting. With the spring held in the trunion by some grease, pop it in the hole. Make sure the boot isn't folding over and it will all pop together.

It's great to have an extra pair of hands but the press was my third hand and I was to able to get everything together without losing any needle bearings...a first for me!

6976-ds14.jpg


Closeup showing the boot.

6975-ds15.jpg


Completed assembly. Tap the snap rings to make sure they are seated in thier grooves and you're done! Well.. almost!

6974-ds16.jpg


6974-ds16.jpg


I bought a cheap but functional set of cv ring pliers at O'riellys. Shoved the boot on with the front yoke and squeezed the clamps shut. Make sure you put the front yoke on the same way you removed it!

6973-ds17.jpg


Final step...install!
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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To install the shaft back in the truck is the opposite of removal. I used my helper to lock in the t-case as needed and torqued the t case bolts to 65 ft lbs.

6972-ds18.jpg


I torque the new straps and bolts to 119 inch lbs (14 ft lbs) and shot some grease in the zerk. DONE! Ready for winter snow.

6971-ds19.jpg

BTW I'd like to thank Northern Drivetrain for the fast shipping on my small parts...and if anyone wants a good deal on a press like mine the ebay seller still has some. $59 + freight.

EDIT: When installing the front joint note that I installed it so the drive shafts rotational torque pushes towards the grease zerk. If you installed the joint so the zerk was in the differential yoke, torque will try to spread the u-joint at the zerk. Now I've never broken one myself, but it's a mechanics rule I hadn't picked up on untill a few years ago.
 
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Rough Country

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very nice write up with pics! i will have do change mine soon
 
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