OK.. what sadistic SOB invented the 'tab type' u joint? First you have to chisel off the 1/4" steel tab from the bearing and then press the bearing out.... double (no triple since I had to buy a press) work... is there some advantage to these over the circlip type u joint retainer??
Anyway.. some observations for what they are worth... From the rust on the mounting bolts I am guessing that these u-joints are from the 1985 rebuild.... some of the 1/2" bolts took everything I had to break loose... pen oil and a 1/2" impact did not impress them at all... had to get a breaker bar with a crows foot wedged against the frame and then hang my 320 lbs off a second breaker bar to get 1/2 of them loose... (that was the shaft to the front axle and the main drive shaft)... the jackshaft bolts from the tranny to the transfer were, at best, finger tight... that may have been the source of the vibration... intermediate shaft was easy...
I have lubed the u-jounts twice in the 400 miles I have had my darlin beast... when taking the old u-joints apart, I could only see traces of the new grease in one of the 4 bearings in each u joint.. I believe that the old (old, old, old) grease had hardened in the U joint cross so much that the grease gun could only force new grease into one of the 4 pathways. And even in the one bearing that I could see new grease it was only where the cross enters the top of the bearing cap... the old, dirty, nasty grease in that bearing looked much the same as the other 3...
So maybe the lesson is to grease often?
The old u-joits were working.. no loose ones that I have found... but they were VERY stiff compared to the new ones... bound to be better milage ahead!!!!
I have lost track of if the front drive shaft goes in with the driveshaft slip joint to the front or the rear... I am thinking rear... have I got that right???
Anyway... time for some ibuprofen, a couple bourbons and sleep before I tackle the re-installation in the morning....
Thanks again for all the help and data on here.... this is the coolest place in cyber space....
