U-joint replacement

Can anyone tell me the correct proceedure for replacing the universal joint on the passanger side end on my front axle shaft?

I was told that I remove the hub, remove the pin for the axle shaft, then slide the whole unit out... I was also told to leave the axle shaft, but remove and replace the ball joints. I have no interest in replacing more then I have too.... u-joint is already 84 friggin dollars.... dang Dana 60's...LOL.... BUT, would it be cheaper and simpler to actually replace the ball joints instead of the freshly changed diff fluid in my front end? Or is there only ONE way this job can be done?


Nornmally I would just dig into it, and do it. But since I am more then 30 minutes away from civilization, AND this is my only car now that I do not have access to my moms... once I tear into it, I need to make sure I can finish it. Know what I mean? Anyways, has anyone ever done this? I can post pictures if it helps....

post pics.. if it's the same as an older D60, i know how to do it

Well it's a newer dana60 so you don't have to worry about kingpins... Praise the lord!!! However I would like to humor myself in thinking that 3 quarts of 90 weight are way cheaper then ball joints for a 60... However there is 2 ways of doing this and both have been mentioned. However if your going for the easier and cheaper way I'd go to the parts shop and get your u joint and get some 90 weight and take the hub off and drain your pumkin slide the shaft out and do on the bench in the vise where you have room to work instead of inbetween the ball joints poke your head under the fender and take a look at how much elbow room you have and tell me if you really wanna do it with the shaft still in the axle... However from past experience the #1 leading cause to bad axle joints iiiissss..... You guessed it! Bad ball joints. So it may be worth a trip to midas for a free inspection and replace all nessasary components because as you stated above 84 bucks for a axle joint doesn't sound like something I'd want to replace every couple of months because your trying to save a couple bucks now. So I vote a trip to midas for free inspection then a trip to the parts store then back to the woods with a 12 pack of cold ones and yank the shaft change the joint refill the pumkin and 5 hours later you back on the road... Unless new ball joint are needed then I would highly recommend that because no one wants to watch as their driver side tire passes them or having to replace their D side tire every couple of weeks because the tires are showing belts...


Just my .02... Thanks merlin I never saw this thread or I would've answered already... Not that I doubt you Jr. you've walked me through a couple things but if you need help taking it apart let me know and I'll get you there!

Thank you Fasel, you are the axle man!

Thank you Fasel.... that makes sense.

I will still try to get some pictures up, been busy...lol...

No problem bud. Anytime!


Merlin your too kind... I appreciate that man! Thanks!!!

Okay, I took some pictures tonight. Tried to get it from every possible angle without taking my tire off. It is like 11 degrees outside and dark... so this is what I could get, let me know if you need more. After looking at them myself, I am thinking the whole shaft needs to come out as well, I believe my steering stop will be in the way.... But Fasel, you are the axle guy, you tell me....

you could have cleaned it before you took pics. lol

yeah, what do you think this is, my dirty truck source?

Jr. take it out for sure... Fasel is right it will be well worth it to just pull it and do it on a vice.. been there done that lol

yeah, like everyone else said.. pull it out and put it in a vise.. it's a whole lot easier and gives you a good excuse to change the fluid in the housing.. i suggest using 2 quarts of lucas oil stabilizer and 1 quart of 90 weight.. the lucas oil is thick like glue and will keep your center section niiiicccccce and lubed.. also, spray the center section with brake clean to clean out old gear oil and metal deposits, they are not your friend! haha

Sorry about the mud guys... I LIVE IN THE WOODS REMEMBER! LMAO


See 79, that was one of the reasons I did NOT want to pull it out, because I just literally changed the fluid up there with heavy weight synthetic Amsoil fluid! Cost me out the butt too! Can I reuse the fluid? Or would I have to replace it ... again?!

you can reuse it.. just try and filter out the metal follicles.. or stick a strong(preferably clean) magnet in whatever container you drain the fluid into. that will attract 99% of the metal in the fluid.. then just use some kind of filter so you can strain it

If you can avoid it, I would not reuse it Junior. Unless you have a transfer pump with a filter on it, you cant get the small pieces of metal out of it. If you absolutely need to reuse it, run it through a coffee filter first.

I would also not suggest spraying the center section with brake clean. That stuff works too well. It will pull the oil that has soaked in, out of the gears.

79_bronco wrote:

you can reuse it.. just try and filter out the metal follicles.. or stick a strong(preferably clean) magnet in whatever container you drain the fluid into. that will attract 99% of the metal in the fluid.. then just use some kind of filter so you can strain it

theirs some ppl that put magnets right in their filter for that purpose. I would do it, but id be half afraid that it wouldnt be there the next time i change the filter.

merlin5577 wrote:

I would also not suggest spraying the center section with brake clean. That stuff works too well. It will pull the oil that has soaked in, out of the gears.

not the gears, just the center section itself.. all the metal deposits build up in the bottom of the pumpkin.. you just spray it down with brake clean and wipe it out

Ok well looking at your pics I don't think anything would be in that way as far as removing your axle shaft from the tube. Just take your tire off pull your brakes and whatnot of then remove your lockouts and take the hub off but be carefull there's 2 wheel bearings in there then I think it's a 9/16 nut but take the nuts off and grab a deadblow and beat your spindle off once the spindle's off then you'll just have your axle shaft hanging out of your steering knuckle then take your diff cover off and yes like said if you can avoid reusing the fluid then by all means do so... However I've personally re used gear oil I've also reused tranfer case fluid and I've even run used oil in a beater truck... As long the oil not old as fudge and been burnt and looks like mud when you take it out then you should be ok and as far as filtering it yes a transfer pump with a filter would be your best choice but since I doubt you have one laying out behind the pine tree what I do is take one of those magna trays (you know the metal bowl with the magnet on the bottom) I put that in the bottow of a milk jug that I cut in half and cleaned out I then pour the oil strait into the magnatray and as it flows over the edge and into the jug most of the particals get stuck to the magnet and it does a good job of getting most of the particals because of the overall surface area of the magnet. Also I do believe your axle housing should have a magnet in your pumpkin because I don't think you have a high pinion axle so you should have one in there already and as chris said if you want to you can spray down the inside of the case but since your not taking the carrier out I wouldn't recommend it and I seriously do not recommend removing the carrier! For one you'd have to remove the other shaft and 2 you'd have to reset bearing preload and backlash and maybe add or remove a shim to get it just right and if your that far away and want to get it done I'd just drain the pig change the ujoint clean the fluid and refill and go and like merlin said maybe put it through a coffee filter although it'd have to be a reuseable filter because I don't think 90 wieght will go through a paper filter to well...


However if you just replaced your diff oil I'm sure you'll be ok reusing it just as long as it doesn't look like this!

HOLY S^!+!

That's what I said when I first saw it apparently bad pinion seal and axle seals run through mud for a couple season will do that who'd a thunk it right? lol

it looks like butterscotch pudding LOL

Yeah it does that's funny!!