liuhisn

How hare is it to remove the half shafts in order to replace the U joints in an '88 corvette. I am being quoted $696; seems pricey. I was just thinking about removing the shafts myself and taking them in to have the joints put on. Looks intimidating. As of now, it just clicks when I shift it into gear. No vibrations or shaking.

Cruisinfanatic

that's a lot
Can't take more than 2 or 3 hrs.
Buy your own press ($40) at HF and do it yourself

mike100

I have done it twice now. I had the shafts out and on my bench in about 70 minutes taking my time and BS'ing with my friend who was helping me to put the car in and out of gear while I undid the fasteners on the yokes.

It took longer to put them back, but I did it myself after work one day. I used Spicer u-joints and I had them all pressed in within 20 minutes (using sockets, a hammer, and soft 25lb lead blocks as the base rather than the concrete). It went in so easy I didn't even feel guilty using a hammer. It will take you a LOT longer than that if you use el-cheapos or bamboo parts.

If you have a clunk, it's probably not the universals, but check the tightness of the axlenut and maybe lube the axle stub spline.

PLRX

Bring it to my place and I do it for half.

samsonb

There is a good write up posted here on the forum somewhere. And one of the mags has a good write up online somewhere too.

You can press out/in the joints with a ball joint press that you can rent from the parts store. That is what I used.

floridamale

Try this thread
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/vad...orpujoint.html


I did the outer U joint drivers side on my 87 today it was clicking. It's a couple hours start to finish.

QCVette

I did the driver's side on my 94 last weekend.

I had read a post that you could simply undo the ujoint strap bolts and wiggle the half shaft out. I tried it and I could not get it out.

I undid the tie rod end and the end of the bar opposite of the camber bolt. With those 2 removed, I could get the half shaft out. I think the service manual says to undo the leaf spring bolt too, but I didn't have to do that.

Pressing the ujoints in and out can be done easily at home with either a vise or hammer. Use a couple of old sockets so that you can contact only the half shaft over the ujoint cap and another one that only contacts the ujoint cap. Mine didn't take a lot of pressure to press them out.

I took my time and tried removing the half shafts the wrong way for a while and it took about 1.5 hours on the drivers side.

It is not too difficult and the parts are inexpensive. I would recommend doing it yourself instead of spending a lot of money.

Good Luck.

Railroadman

If you have enough ability to get the half shaft out, you certainly don't need to take it anywhere to get the U-joints out and in. Do the whole thing yourself. Be sure to put the camber adjustment back just where it was.

samsonb

I recall only having to disconnect the tie-rod and sway bar end-link in order to get the half shaft out. You'll want to disconnect the sway bar end-link first. And use a 3 jaw puller to disconnect the tie-rod.

ejscarfo

I did the job almost 3 years ago, it wasn't that bad. Rather easy actually once I was prepared by reading forum posts and collecting the tools I needed.

You will have to remove the sway bar link, tie-rod end and the bolt for the camber brace. I also removed the spring bolt, lower shock bolt and complete knuckle assembly (the outer joint was frozen and I had no choice). Basically, you just need enough room to work the shaft out. As I did it on my back, I thought it was easier to remove it as a unit and replace worn bushings, etc. while there.

With some long extensions you can remove the strap bolts in the inner joints and then work on the outer one. It took me 2 hours and I took my time, I probably could of done it in an hour on a lift. My u-joints were frozen so I had to get them pressed out. It cost me $10 to get the old one pressed out and a new pressed in. Totally worth it.

There are a number of really good posts here with great picture references so check them out. Its not that bad a job and you will definitely learn a lot.

DSmall

If is clicking, you should also check the hub bearings. Worn bearings will make a clicking noise.

ejscarfo

or that stupid teflon washer

crvttbass

I did the U-joints on my 88 last year. And for me I didn't take anything else apart. It does take some fanagling butit did come out. Also just press them in your self. I just use two sockets of the correct size and put it in the vise and slowly push em out and again back in. Basacally a horizontal press.

dallas916

I did all of mine on my '91 ZR-1. I was on the road in Oregon and my outer right rear started falling apart. I ended up doing it on the street in front of my son's house. It's not too bad...a few hours if you take your time. I couldn't get the Spicer's at the time so I used the NAPA heavy duty ones which worked great.

BTW: if the U-joints are gone it's usually a good time to replace any bushings back there that are also gonna be tired.

And, the socket method works fine.

dallas916

Definitely a possibility if the car has a lot of miles. If you jack the wheel off the ground and rock the whole tire at 6 and 12 (not hard enough to work the suspension) you should get "0" motion. If you get even 1/8" of movement there's a good chance the hub is losing its bearings. They are a challenge to replace (tons of torque on the center nut) but the alternative is grim.

liuhisn

Thanks! Do you have to spin balance the drive shaft?

liuhisn

I'm in the process of changing the ujoints on my 88 vette c4. Is it required to spin balance the drive shaft or just install the new u joints?

mtwoolford

I've read that marking the half shaft / hub / differential are all a good idea so it can all be reassembled in the same positions to maintain proper balance, especially if the half shafts have never been pulled before. of course I overlooked this step when I did mine. no issues though.

one thought though, I've often wondered if replacing the strap bolts with allen head bolts would make reassembly and future disassembly easier ?