SOhappy

And so it begins. Just did mine, first dime I've spent on my truck (other than fuel, maintenance, mods, taxes, insurance, interest, and wear items- maybe u-joints fall into the latter category anyway). It's been 5 1/2 years and 71,000 miles, so I can't complain, other than I was JUST OUT OF WARRANTY WHEN THE JOINT WENT BAD! BTW, I knew it was bad because it was squeaking at low speeds. It's a good thing I replaced it, as it was toast (rusty and needle bearings ground to a powder) and would not have lasted much longer.

Ok, so here's what I learned:

1. Don't do it yourself unless you have about 4-5 hours and a Big Hydraulic Press. A buddy of mine told me just as I was wrapping up that Six States Dist. will swap 'em out for free if you buy the u-joints from them. Gee, thanks.
   
2. Spray everything down with WD hours before starting. Mine were quite rusty (more on that later).
   
3. Mark your drive-line axially for reassembly, and be sure to write "F" and "R" for front and rear on the driveline. Use a permament paint marker, sharpie marks rubb off too easily.
   
4. Loosen the (4) diff flange bolts, 1/2" drive 15mm socket and breaker bar. They are loc-tited and take a bit of force to break loose. You'll have to rotate the driveline to get to all of them, so either jack up the truck or roll it back and forth to get to them all.
   
5. Long beds might have a center bearing? Remove that next.
   
6. Before pulling the slip yoke out of the trans/transfer case, put an oil pan under the back of the trans/transfer case as it might leak a little. If a lot leaks out, you probably have a blown seal. Mine leaked a few drops is all. I had a Chebby once that drenched me. You remebered to mark it good for reassembly, right?
   
7. Careful, the driveline is heavy. That heavy old dampner makes the front end unwieldy.
   
8. After you've bench-pressed the sucker off your torso, carry to a workbench and remove the u-joint retainer clips.
   
9. Get two sockets to push with, one bigger than the u-joint cup, the other slightly smaller. Sorry I forgot what sizes I used.
   
10. Starting at one end or the other, press the u-joint out of the yolk (start opposite the zerk, if so equipped). You'll notice that you cannot rotate the u-joint cup out of the hole, and no amount of beating on it (or the yoke ear as the manual suggests ) or twisting it with a pipe-wrench will help, so....push it back the other way. Rinse with WD-40 and repeat several times. The reason for this is a rust ring on the open end of the cup (where the cup seal is). You've got to shear that off to continue.
    
11. Ok, this time- press on the yoke instead of the cup. This will leave one cup poking out on both sides. What? You still can't rotate the "cross" (u-joint with out the needle bearing cups) out of the yoke? Yeah, me too. So, here's the trick, now pay attention: place the u-joint so the pressed cups are up-and down (not side-to-side) with the cross positioned in the upper cup, take a small tool and collapse all the needle bearings into the lower cup. now when you push it back through the next time the cup will push on all those bearings , which will in-turn transfer the load to the cup and press it all the way out. Now the cross can rotate out. If that is too much Bubba for you, or you are redoing a new u-joint and don't want to ruin the needle bearings, maybe you could slip some pennies or slugs or something between the cross and bottom of the cup to make up the difference.
    
12. Repeat for other axis. Remember I said to press on the yoke instead of the cup in the last step? Well yeah, this time there is no opposite yoke to push on, right? So you'll need some kind of fixture to press on the cross instead so you can get both cups poking out of the yoke. I used a 3" length of 2x3 (I think) channel iron on-end. The sides push down on the cross (where the cups used to be in the other axis). Wish I would've taken a pict, sorry. You'll figure it out though- you're a smart guy. You bought a CTD instead of a PoSD, right?
    
13. Repeat on opposite end. Even if just one u-joint is bad, you might as well do both. They're only $20 you cheapskate. Also remember you're only half way done and the big game starts in 55 minutes. You're screwed.
    
14. Actually, you're not screwed. Reassembly goes a lot faster. Just remember four things: First, grease the holes in the yoke ears to prevent corrosion and to help the new cups slip into place. Second, the zerks should face toward the center of the driveline fore-to aft (facing away from the trans/rear diff) If not, it can hit on the flange. It's easier to get to with the grease gun anyway. Third, start by pressing the new u-joint in with the zerk pointing up- gives you more travel. Fourth, don't drop the driveline or let it bang around during reassembly as the needles can become dislodged in their cups. That's a bad thing.
    
15. Check for easy rotation in all axis. There shouldn't be any resistance. If there it, you can smack the yoke ears with a hammer to try and seat the bearings. If you feel grinding then you dropped a needle into the cup and munched it. Get in your wife's car and go buy another u-joint Homer, then repeat steps 10-14.
    
16. Don't forget the retaining clips, grease the new u-joints and pay attention to the markings when you line it up to put it back in the truck. Not sure what the bolt torque should be. Oh and wipe down the slip yoke, you don't need any dirt on that thing when it goes back in.
    
17. I probably forgot something important. Oh well... Remember this is for an '03, I think some of the newer models use resin instead of retaining rings. If they don't have the retaining ring grooves then you really are screwed.

D-Roc

Did you get your driveshaft rebalanced after the work?

SOhappy

Nope, shouldn't need to if you put everything back in the way it came out.

I had it up to 75mph for 120 miles and no vibes.