Oh my god, I hate u-joints...

[bluesfella]

I've done them many times before (years ago), but tonight I spent WAY too long trying to replace the original ones on my '66.

I'm in the middle of a clutch replacement, and when I pulled the driveshaft, I noticed how bad the u-joints were, so I picked up some replacements today and tried to switch them out. The rear one wasn't too bad, but when it came time to do the front one, I had some problems.

First off, these looked to be the original u-joints. My truck is a 70,000 mile original, and has never been apart for anything, as far as I can tell. (I'm the third owner - the first was my friend's great-grandfather, who passed it down to my friend's grandfather, and I bought it after his passing.)

When you put new u-joints on, they have these nifty zerk fittings so you can service them. Little tip - these fittings need to point towards the driveshaft, NOT towards the front yoke or they will bind. I didn't figure this out until I had it 75% done.

I took it apart and put it back together the right way, and came across the 2nd issue. Trying to get that last cap on, I broke one of the needle bearings. I think it was a combination of trying to hold the driveshaft still on my vise, plus trying to hold the yoke right in the middle while I gently tapped on the cap with a hammer - anyway, I was slightly off, and one of the needle bearings fell in and broke. Now I have to go buy another u-joint tomorrow.

So, long story to get to my question - any tips for doing this easier? I'm really frustrated with these things...