Front axle u joint replacemnt Help

[SlammedBlazerLife]

Trying to replace the worn out u joint on my front axle, but im stuck. Does anybody know the procedure to take off the rotor to get to the axle shaft u joint?

[franken]

Might start with the year, and model. 88 Bronco II?

Take the caliper off and hang it up so theres no weight on the hose. The disk should be pretty easy to get off, but I don't recall exactly what keeps it on other than the caliper.

Next the 2 nuts behind each locking hub are removed, and then the spindle comes off.
The manual says to tap on the spindle lightly. Ha! The parts store has a slide hammer that will pop it off.

After that the axle shafts just slide out.

All this is assuming I remember correctly...

[imjeff]

The rotor/hub assembly is held on by the wheel bearings. Once you get that off, the spindle has six bolts holding it. You can coerce it out with a rubber mallet and some patience.

Jeff

[SlammedBlazerLife]

my bad fraken, 1972 Blazer 4x4

Well I took a few parts off and I got stuck. I got stuck where you take the snap ring off the gears that are connected or followed by a spring. I couldn't figure out how to remove this part??? In other GM solid axle I would disconnect the snap ring and the whole gear/spring would slide out easily giving access to the spanner nuts. Is their a special tool for this model/ year blazer. Does any one know of any videos out there for the k5 front axle u joint removal?

[imjeff]

Sounds like you're stuck in the hub. There is one snapring on the axle and one inside the hub that hold it in.

[franken]

I doubt there's a difference between a 72 K5 and K10, or the same vehicles up to 87. It should be a Dana 44.

Like Jeff said, it seems like its in the greasy area behind the locking hub.

But the spindle isn't light or easy to remove.

Try youtube and search dana 44 front. For example:

THE BREAK DOWN OF A DANA 44 FRONT AXLE!! HOW TO...

I'm not endorsing the vid. It's just the 1st to come up.

Looks like I missed the hub part...

[SlammedBlazerLife]

I've searched for videos for vids on YouTube for help but I always get obscure info that doesn't really relate to my 1972 K5 Axle shaft.

Well I was looking around the gear where the second snap ring came off and I noticed two small grooves. I figured the spindle socket wrench would work for these grooves to take the gear/spring of the spindle but I doubt it, I could push it in and it would just slide right back to original position and i gave it some turns to see if would come loose but no go. What I noticed at the end of the spindle the tip seems to be thicker than the rest of spindle shaft the gear always stops at the point and doesn't come loose. So my question is that common that tip would be thicker to keep the gear/spring In place? and so, do I need a machine shop to break the gear loose off the spindle? Any opinions welcomed. Thanks

[SlammedBlazerLife]

Front axle U-joints are fixed, thanks.