I dont know if this is true or not, but I heard from somebody that doing u-joints on my front axle's of my 92 f-150 4x4, you are supposed to use a special u-joint, other than what they give you at autozone or advanced. may be true, may be a load of crap, but I figure I better ask first. any help is greatly appreciated

 

I never heard of that but it dosent mean that its not true. I got mine from napa last year and they are fine. Good luck

 

Well there not really special.. there just different from your rear u joints, rather then having to pound in all 4 caps into the axle shaft.. the front joints have a C clamp on the axle and the transfer case.. just crawl under niethe and take alook, u'll see wut i mean. they only fit in one way also so its pretty easy to see how they fit. hope this helps

 

The only thing I have heard of different is the option of getting a grease fitting in the end cap. Mine from Napa are non-greaseable. They work fine but I'm sure to be replacing a few years down the road.

 

thanks for the info, it was something about the u-joint caps being rounded and not flat or something, I am guessing that the person who told me really dont know what they are talking about

 

You are correct about that. They are rounded so they fit through the knuckle, but it's not anything to really worry about as long as you get the right ones.

 

I have problem getting the right part at AutoZone no matter what I am looking for. The one by me is horible. I try to stick with CarQuest or NAPA. As long as you get axle shaft U-Joint you will be fine.

 

ok, becuase with autozone and advanced, the u-joint for the driveshaft and axleshaft is the same exact part & part #

 

There are 2 different Ujoints for the driveshaft.
There should be only one for the axleshaft.

I'm only going to run spicer U-joints now. Much higher quality then Autozone type parts.
They are junk compared to spicer.

My driveshaft has spicer parts on it now, due to my tottal replacement. I really like them.

 

thanks for the info. any specific place that carries the spicer u-joints at a decent price? how hard was it to replace the u-joints in the axleshaft?

 

Gotta remove the hub i think so you can pull the axle shaft out.

The bolts are a little tough to get loose, so take your time.

Should be a machine shop you can get them at.
your in ohio, i got mine at flint at the place that made my driveshaft, automotive machine shop.
I immagnie you can check their sights for a dealer.

While your pulling the hub mine as well repalce the inner bearing and the seals also.
its one of those, if your doing this, then you should do that job.
I need to replace my seals and inner bearings, so i'm going to do my Ujoints while i'm in there, because its easy to do it at that point.

use a press if you can, try and avoid pounding them in.

 

ok, I have brand new hubs to put in, and the bearings look pretty good, just need to be greased. how hard is it to the the hub spindle thing off? (the piece that the hub slides inside of) I tried once to get it apart, but with no luck. any help is greatly appreciated.

thanks

 

http://partimages2.genpt.com/partimages/26099.jpg
Here's a pic of the greaseable axleshaft joint. The clips go inside of the yoke.

http://partimages2.genpt.com/partimages/26057.jpg
Here's a pic of a front driveshaft joint. The one that goes to the t case.

As for disassembly, are you refering to removing the spindle from the knuckle? Or how to remove the hub/rotor assembly?

A service manual can be a big help and should be in every diy'ers posession. Let us know if you need more help.

 

i already have the haynes manual, and it just says to remove it, not really how to do it. I got stuck when I was pulling the spindle from the knuckle. I already have the hub off. I just kinda need a little bit of guidence because I dont have anybody to help me out. thanks for your time and efforts

 

There are a few ways to go about removing the spindle. First, to have a slide hammer with the spindle adapter. Second, use a rubber mallet and stike the spindle on all sides to get it loose. Careful not to ruin the threads. Third, use a chisel or large screwdriver and hammer around the base of the spindle were it meets the knuckle. Try to get it to seperate. The second and third method are what worked for me.
Let me know if any of those work for you?