Well i think that my front axle u-joints are going bad. When I turn the wheel I can feel it jerking a little and i can hear a sqeeking noise. How hard is it to change the axle u-joints and do i need any special tools? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[I just installed dynatrack locking hubs on my 03, the ujoints were shot I have about 83k on it. You will have to pull the hubs, I ruined mine trying to get them off. They were rusted in and a hour pounding with 8lb sledge did them in. Ive heard a air hammer on the four hub bolts will loosen it, but ruin the bolts. good luck

 

Thanks now I am depressed. lol Has anyone else had any luck taking everything apart and changing the u-joints?

 

i just redid my whole front end too. tie rods, ball joints, axle u-joints,thuren trac bar and the dyna-trac free spinning hubs. took around 8-9 hours to complete everything.(with the help of a friend)

 

Did it require any special tools and was everything difficult to get apart?

 

I was really hoping to get some more feedback on this, but it is getting worse so I guess I will just tear into it and see what happens. Thanks anyway.

 

Go to 4x4tech they have the tools yuo will need.

 

I did my driver side joint @ 98k. I did it without a hitch. When you get to the unit bearing, just back out the four bolts slightly and hit em with a BFH. Just keep unscrewing a few turns and hit em out. If its not siezed too bad it will come right out. That will be your biggest problem. From there its a piece of cake. If you use a puller on the bearing, and you seperate it, you will probably have to replace it and they are not cheap. When you put it back together use neversieve (sp?). Chris

 

I just did mine 2 weeks ago. It took me about 8 hours and I was working very slowly.

You will need a 1 11/16 socket in a 3/4 or 1 inch drive with a breaker bar to get the axel nut off. Also an 11/16 socket and extension will get the brake calapers off and the same size for the 4 hub bolts.

Start by using pentatrating oil on the nuts and the bolts. Loosen the hub nuts before you lift it off the ground and then put it on jack stands. Use pentatration oil on the rotors in the center and at each lug bolt.

Remove the brake caliper assembly as a unit (two bolts) and carfully tie them up out of the way. Do not damage the flexible brake lines or let the calipers hang on the lines. I removed the brake rotors by placing a block of wood on the inside and tapped on the wood with a heavy hammer (I used a 2 lb hammer) on one side and then the other. They came off easely. Remove the ABS sensor and tie it up out of the way.

Loosen the 4 hub bolts and back out about 1/16 inch. Using the socket and an extension (if you have one the right length) you can place it on the bolt and use the power steering to push it against the axel housing and push the hub off. Do not push it off all at once from one bolt. Do it a little at a time using all the bolts. Or use a hammer and hit the extension, working around all the bolts. As the bolts bottom out back them out about 1/16 inch more. I think I only moved the hub about .01 inch each time I pounded on the extension. You will have to move the hub about 3/4 inch to get it loose. I had to turn the steering each time as I went from one side of the steering yoke to the other.

Once the hub is off, the axel will slide out easely. Put the nut back on the axel to protect the threads and then remove the clips on the u-joint. Support two sides of a yoke on something solid (a heavy vise with open jaws or two hard wood blocks, or I used the piston pins from a Cummins engine). Use a socket larger than the bearing cups, place it around the bearing cup that is up and drive the yoke downward. This will push the bearing cup out of the yoke. Turn the axel over and repeat the same. Next support the loose ends of the spider (center part of the u-joint) and do the same thing.

Re-assemble the axel with the new u-joint. I fill each bearing cup with grease to insure it is greased well and this will also help to keep the needles from getting out of place. The extra grease will exit the hole for the zerk fitting to be installed after the assembly.

Be very careful as you re-insert the axels not to damage the axel seals.

Re-assembly the rest in reverse order. Do not try to get the hub in to tightly on one side. Work around all 4 bolts to pull the hub into the steering yoke evenly.

The hub bolts torque to 150 ft/lb. The brake caliper bolts to 130 ft/lb. The axel nuts to 240 ft/lb.

Good luck!

 

Nice write up Papaduck! Thanks.

 

Yeah papaduck thanks for the write up. Good info!

 

I had mine done on warranty at 159000 km. Yours may stil be covered.

 

159000 km. is equal to 99375 miles. Glad yours was fixed under warranty.

My power train warranty was for 70k miles. I have 83k miles now. Engine is for 7 years or 100k miles. The truck will be mine for 5 years in October.

 

good luck getting the wheel bearing out.when you do make sure you clean it up real good before you put the (NEW ONE IN) so when your ball joints go bad you can get it out with out breaking it

tryin to help ..been there done that ,i have 2 junk dodge front ends to fix all the time

radicalray

 

I put anti-seize on the outer bearing surface, so next time should be easier... all this problems and expense to replace the u-joint(found out that it was the HD version at 88.00 bucks CAD not the 25.00 version...) and the 240.00CAD for the bearing unit... when I'm in a better mood I'll replace the other one lol!!