New U-joints & carrier bearing-wow, what a difference!

[pritch]

I changed out all 3 of my U-joints and carrier bearing yesterday. Wow, what a difference it made! I think I must have kinda gotten used to all the various vibrations that had developed over time and having them all go away at once is huge. Really brings out the inherent smoothness of the straight six

I was dreading changing the carrier bearing, having never done it before, but it was the easiest part. I cut away everything I could with the hi-speed until all that was left was the inner race, and it came off fairly easy with a BFH and cold chisel. I did that first, then took a big 'ol chunk of dry ice and laid it on the shaft and wrapped it up good with some rags while I worked on the u-joint on the other shaft. Once I got those done and took a couple breaks and had a little bit of a melt-down after burning the heck out of my hand with the torch (not really the torch. The torch set my glove on fire-the burning glove is what burned my hand)

At any rate, after several hours of chillin', that new bearing went on easy. I still had to drive it on, but it went on easier than the old one came off. Put it all back together and now I'm ready for years of worry-free motoring. Well, at least drive shaft worries.







I did notice that my seal on my rear end has failed and had slung all the gear lube out. I threw in most of a quart I had here but it still wasn't full. I think I had better get that fixed ASAP, as I have 2 back-to-back 1200 mile road trips planned for June. Truck needs to be ready for that!

[Thanos]

What brand U-joints? I tried precision and they sucked, going back to spicer.

[pritch]

Originally Posted by Thanos

What brand U-joints? I tried precision and they sucked, going back to spicer.

They are Spicer. I shop for parts at what used to be the CarQuest but is now Advaced Auto Parts warehouse/store out about 30ish West on California. I suppose that's West Valley City. It's worth it to me to go there even though there are closer stores to me, because being it's the warehouse, I don't get the "Oh-we can have it here in a hour" when looking for parts for a 45 y/o truck

[Mike C]

Nice. Feels great to get a lot of those things fixed.

When you do the pinion seal, buy a new nut as well. You shouldn't have any problems loosening the pinion nut, put the new seal on, and tighten the new nut as tight as you can with a 1/2" drive ratchet.

The biggest problem with seal replacement I see is the used nut loses it's locking capability and backs out within a few thousand miles. If you're more of a DIY junkyard type guy, you can hit the nut with a hammer on the top and it usually compresses enough threads that locking is restored. But I'd buy a new nut...

[pritch]

Originally Posted by Mike C

Nice. Feels great to get a lot of those things fixed.

When you do the pinion seal, buy a new nut as well. You shouldn't have any problems loosening the pinion nut, put the new seal on, and tighten the new nut as tight as you can with a 1/2" drive ratchet.

The biggest problem with seal replacement I see is the used nut loses it's locking capability and backs out within a few thousand miles. If you're more of a DIY junkyard type guy, you can hit the nut with a hammer on the top and it usually compresses enough threads that locking is restored. But I'd buy a new nut...

I don't have a problem buying a new nut, but seriously-is that all there is to it? I've always kinda assumed there was more to it. I've never really worked on diffs before. This is an Eaton locker, and I don't want to screw it up.

[geunther]

Its a heck of a lot of work, but the nut is supposed to be a one time affair. But, the real work comes in because there is a crush collar on the pinion. It is also supposed to be a one time deal. If not correct you could get a vibration. It is what sets pinion bearing pre-load.