front U-joint - Ford Forums

jakeq19 · 12-02-2003, 01:51

Any one know of any tricks to changing a front u-joint without taking the whole front wheel apart? You guys are always full of great ideas and some times just full of it. thanks for any info either way.

old 67 worker' · 12-03-2003, 00:09

Nope! ....I've never seen it done "w/out" sorry, maybe some one else can tell us both how? and I assume your talking about the 4 wheel drive u-joint ,from axle to wheel? and what year ? ......."don't guess it matters ,cause I still ain't seen one done like that, " I would think it would be easier with the wheel out of the way? I guess its more time consuming to pull all of it off ?! don't know man sorry........

'92BigBronco · 12-03-2003, 21:48

If you need to replace the u-joint on one of the front axles, you need to pull the entire wheel assembly and spindle so you can remove the axle shaft from the front differential. It's a few hours work to do it properly.

For the left side, you'll have to remove the brake caliper, pads, hub, wheel bearings and rotor, and the upper and lower ball joints to remove the spindle. Once all that is out of the way, you can go ahead and slide the axle shaft out of the front differential. If it's the right side you may have to remove the stub axle depending on which u-joint is blown. To do that, you have to actually remove the entire front carrier from the I-beam. Not much fun!

While you have it apart, it would be a good time to just go ahead and replace the upper and lower ball joints as well as the seals.

jakeq19 · 12-05-2003, 23:22

thanks for the info guys!! I figured I would have to do it the long way but was hoping it could be easier. Later.