U-joint replacement
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 318
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From: Huntsville, AL
U-joint replacement
It appears that i have a u-joint out on my '90 3.0 Shorty. At normal speeds there is a very audible whirring coming from the drivetrain, and when I lock it into 2nd and let off the gas it sounds as if the driveshaft is gonna come through the floor. Is there anything that I should know before I tackle this job? Also would it be a good idea to replace both joints while i have the shaft removed? It has 143,000 so I guess that it couldnt hurt.
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 8,062
Likes: 35
From: Central Oregon
Good idea to change them both. You my want to think about using a press to change them, I use to use a wrist pin out a FE Ford engine and a hammer, until I put a dent in the drive shaft of my 80 Bronco, that was a $300 mistake.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,529
Likes: 35
From: Kansas
Originally Posted by johncfox
It appears that i have a u-joint out on my '90 3.0 Shorty. At normal speeds there is a very audible whirring coming from the drivetrain, and when I lock it into 2nd and let off the gas it sounds as if the driveshaft is gonna come through the floor. Is there anything that I should know before I tackle this job? Also would it be a good idea to replace both joints while i have the shaft removed? It has 143,000 so I guess that it couldnt hurt.
sole driver of one of our Aerostar vans. She told me that she had heard a
"clunk" in the van for a few days...... (How many days? I never got that out
of her) By the time I drove it a U-joint was really making a noise.
Turns out the U-joint cross had started to tear up the aluminum driveshaft.
I managed to replace the u-joint before the driveshaft was ruined, but it
was close.
A vice with jaws that spread apart really good works wonders. Another poster mentioned a C-clamp that might work also. But don't let it go too long.
