you joint?

[long69]

had to replace the carrier bearing and that turns out to be the easy part. now i cant get the u joints back in and aligned enough to bet both clips in. getting one clip on was easy but the second, there is just not enough of the groove exposed. i have been using a press and out of the 3 joint the one i used a hammer on is the only one the went on. while pressing them on it uses very little force so i don't think anything is binding. i'm feeling like a complete dope. any ideas of what I'm doing wrong?

[maddog1331]

I have run into the same problem, so currently mine is in the shop. However, what you might check (which I checked and rechecked on mine) is to look inside the bearing cup on both sides where the problem is, and make sure a bearing didn't fall down in there. That can cause it to happen.

Also, one thing I didn't try that I found out after I put it in the shop was to hit the shaft where the joint is with a hammer. I don't know if this works since I have never done it, but a friend advised that sometimes when you press them in it compresses the shaft hookup things (don't know the technical term) slightly which can cause this.

Before you run off and hit it though, hang around for some of the wiser folks on here, they may be able to tell you more

[HoupPhotography]

I had the same issue a few months ago.... my problem was that one of the holes were oblonged and the cap wouldn't go in. The weird part is, it was oblonged just on the outside, the inner was fine.

Maybe check that out and/or take it to a driveline shop.... it can't hurt to have an expert go through it.

I learned the hard way NOt to bang on the drive shaft....... $250 later it was ok...

[4x4Poet]

Originally Posted by HoupPhotography

...I learned the hard way NOt to bang on the drive shaft....... $250 later it was ok...

long69, you're dealing with a 4x4's D44 inner axle u-joints, not a driveshaft, right?

If so, also look for a bent ear, though a fallen needle bearing in the bottom of a cap (as described above) is the most common cause of an inability to expose the second cap's clip groove.