Put the new u-joint in last night. Took about 3 hours. I had a hard time getting the ends of the driveshaft assembly off the of their respective mating flanges, until I took a chisel/wedge and drove it into the only gap between the yoke and the flange, and then each end popped off right away. Then, I used the advice of the u-joint write up on the jeep section of 4x4wire (u-joint change) and got the first couple caps knocked out no problem... but then I had the u-joint still in the small end yoke and had no way to get it out. I should have knocked out the caps to get the small yoke off first, then I would have still had the driveshaft to aid in holding the assembly while the last two joints caps were knocked out. But, I got it all apart.

So, I started pounding in the first two caps of the new joint, but no matter what I did I could not get it to go together enough to get both c-clips on... I had about .040" more to go, and I could not get the caps on any farther. So, I took it all apart again, only to find that one of the needle bearings had become dislodged and was sitting in the bottom of the cap, resulting in the ~.040" gap that I couldn;t get rid of. Anyway, I packed a bunch more lube into the caps, and made extra sure to slide it all together while not letting the bearings move, and then it all worked fine.

End result is a much quieter and smoother truck at highway speeds. I can actually make out individual cars in my rear view mirrors on the freeway now, since the vibration is gone.

Thanks again for the tips guys.


'87 Xtra Cab, 4wd, 22r, 5spd
'92 Xtra Cab, 4wd, 2L-TE diesel swap, 5spd
http://toyotadiesel.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2502