Helping a friend of mine replace the drive shaft u-joints in his 2003 F350 crew cab long bed and it was an utter disaster. We were using Moog u-joints - Moog 295. I usually use Dana / Spicer but nobody locally had them and this needed to be done ASAP. We removed the rear section of the driveshaft and the flange from the rear axle. We removed the u-joints with a press as usual. Everything came out just fine, no issues no problems. Putting the u-joint back into the flange for the rear axle was impossible. We could not get the u-joint in at all. It was too long, we tried every orientation possible. There was some welding cast on the u-joint so we clearances that just a bit with a die grinder and then topped it lightly with a hammer and it popped in place. When we went to press the cups in, we could only get one side clip in and then the other side cup stuck out past the groove for the clip. We pressed it back the other way and blew out the groove in the flange making the flange totally useless. I have replaced dozens of u-joints in the garage, along side the road, on the trail ,etc. and NEVER had a disaster like this. What did we do wrong? Talk about a frustrating day for a simple task. Suggestions, ideas, many idea where to get to get a new flange? Thanks!

 

I am helping replace my front and rear driveshaft U-joints this coming Saturday. While shopping for U-joints I realized that there are more combinations of driveshafts, wheelbase lengths, one and two piece driveshafts, U-joint types, etc.... than I had ever thought there were.

Are you 100% sure you have the right U-joints for the right application? See the link below for a bit of an explanation as to why I asked that question.

Do you know your U-joints?

I spoke to several "specialty shops" that sold U-joints. Some insisted I did not have a single piece driveshaft, most recommended the wrong sizes and some recommended the wrong quantity.

If you are sure, then this only serves as a bump to your thread and hopefully get you some help.

 

@Sous your link is jacked

 

Sounds to me you got the wrong u joint, like you I’ve done them many times without issue. That’s most likely because we’ve had the correct joint...

 

Thank you sir! That is what happens when I try to help before being fully awake! I have resolved the error and hopefully FSJ-EARL can get the answers he needs.

 

Thanks for the link. They are / were the same part number that we pulled out. Two went in just fine with no issues, just the flange yoke was / is the problem. When we sat the yoke on the work bench, it did not sit flat, it had a slight bend to it that actually brought the ears in closer to one another. Not sure if it was bent when we pulled it off or if we bent it when we removed the old u joint. I find that hard to believe considering the amount of pounding some people put in these with a hammer and soccer to a press but stranger things have happened.

 

those flange yokes are pretty fragile compared to a regular style yoke. I think it has "half mooned" on you. i would recommend trying to source a replacement, bending it back out with heat/pressure will probably weaken it more

 

Got a new yoke and Spicer u-joints and everything went together perfectly! The old yoke was most definitely 1/2 mooned and I wasn't even going to try to fix that. Thanks for the help, I thought that I was going a bit crazy. I would not think that the yoke would bend that easy.