Help! How do you get a universal joint out???
Discussion
I know the theory... I've removed the circlips holding the existing UJ in place. I've tried breaking the corrosion bond with the thing in a vice with a small socket on one side and a large one on the other - which served to do nothing other than knacker the vice 
- and I've been soaking WD40 into the joints for the last couple of days.
The theory is all well and good, but it's not coping with a fair bit of off-roading and 175k miles of reality under the belt.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what I can do next? Is there any specialist equipment I might be able to hire or something?
- and I've been soaking WD40 into the joints for the last couple of days.The theory is all well and good, but it's not coping with a fair bit of off-roading and 175k miles of reality under the belt.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what I can do next? Is there any specialist equipment I might be able to hire or something?
I'm surprised it broke your vice before the bearing cap shattered, was it a decent vice? Any way disc cutter, as above is good if the joint is accessible which it might not be if the UJ is still a unit, why not try drilling through the centre of the cap into the the journal, taking it up a bit at a time. Do two opposed caps, then retry the vice method, it might relieve it and the heat might help, never done this way myself always got vice & sockets to work.
GAjon said:
I'm surprised it broke your vice before the bearing cap shattered, was it a decent vice? Any way disc cutter, as above is good if the joint is accessible which it might not be if the UJ is still a unit, why not try drilling through the centre of the cap into the the journal, taking it up a bit at a time. Do two opposed caps, then retry the vice method, it might relieve it and the heat might help, never done this way myself always got vice & sockets to work.
I'm not sure what exactly I've done to the vice, but I seem to have caused the winding mechanism to seize by applying too much pressure onto the sockets. 
I'm surprised at how cheap hydraulic presses can be, but loathe to spend money on something I may not need again, so I reckon it's time to get the drill out, as I won't be able to get a disc inside the yoke.
We've just replaced a rather old and solid UJ from the L200, good soak, loads of heat and try and drive the caps out with a drift. Can you get any movement at all on them? We took a while going back and forward, adding more penetrating oil every time we got a bit of movement and driving it back again. Once you can get access to the yokes an angle grinder with a 1mm cutting disc will take care of the last bits.
Aah, yes, my previous vice after removing a driveshaft u.j.;
I used the two sockets method, but found that as the vice is tightened give the yolk or the vice a tap with a hammer, quite often the shock makes the cup move in a little.
Tighten vice, tap, tighten vice, tap etc.
It worked for me, once I'd bought a slighlty bigger vice!
I used the two sockets method, but found that as the vice is tightened give the yolk or the vice a tap with a hammer, quite often the shock makes the cup move in a little.
Tighten vice, tap, tighten vice, tap etc.
It worked for me, once I'd bought a slighlty bigger vice!
The dead vice is one of these...
I did tell the guy in Machine Mart what I wanted it for, and he reckoned this one should be up to the job. Clearly it wasn't, so I'll be taking it back and asking them to replace it. Happy to pay the difference for something more substantial, of course, but what do people think I should go for?
Machine Mart vices page is here
I did tell the guy in Machine Mart what I wanted it for, and he reckoned this one should be up to the job. Clearly it wasn't, so I'll be taking it back and asking them to replace it. Happy to pay the difference for something more substantial, of course, but what do people think I should go for?
Machine Mart vices page is here
Has the UJ not budged at-all? You sure you haven't pushed one side flush with the yoke and are then trying to compress the whole thing?
I find the best method is to sit one part of the yoke across the open jaws of a vice (although you could use anything- two bits of metal, old wheel rims or blocks of wood), then hammer (carefully!) on the other part of the yoke
This forces the yoke down and the bearing cup up. You will find it a bit tricky to hold the joint upright as you hammer it, but that is something that comes with practice. You might want to use a socket that fits over the bearing cups to spread the load more evenly on the yoke more, but I find landrover UJs come apart easy enough without it.
Then flip it over and do the same on the other side. You should make enough room to pull the spider from the bearing cups on one side.
Repeat for the other half of the yoke, which is easier now it's partly dis-assembled.
Then knock the bearing cups out (or in, whichever way is easiest) to remove them from the yoke.
I knew these pictures would come in handy
I've got pictures of how I re-assemble it all too if you have any more problems.
I find the best method is to sit one part of the yoke across the open jaws of a vice (although you could use anything- two bits of metal, old wheel rims or blocks of wood), then hammer (carefully!) on the other part of the yoke
This forces the yoke down and the bearing cup up. You will find it a bit tricky to hold the joint upright as you hammer it, but that is something that comes with practice. You might want to use a socket that fits over the bearing cups to spread the load more evenly on the yoke more, but I find landrover UJs come apart easy enough without it.
Then flip it over and do the same on the other side. You should make enough room to pull the spider from the bearing cups on one side.
Repeat for the other half of the yoke, which is easier now it's partly dis-assembled.
Then knock the bearing cups out (or in, whichever way is easiest) to remove them from the yoke.
I knew these pictures would come in handy
I've got pictures of how I re-assemble it all too if you have any more problems.I did the job without a vice using the hammer method above. (briefly attempted it with a U-clamp and a Workmate, they didn't last long 
) Worked eventually, took ages though and was a horror. I found that pouring boiling water over the cups made them move a little easier, although maybe waiting for the kettle to boil was just giving me a nice rest.
) Worked eventually, took ages though and was a horror. I found that pouring boiling water over the cups made them move a little easier, although maybe waiting for the kettle to boil was just giving me a nice rest.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff