U-joint change

Once the drive shaft is out, I would really recommend having it rebalanced. It sure makes a noticeable difference in smoothness of the drive train!

Hi Brett yes i have addressed the swing arm issue and thanks to all who replied...I have a friend who will help support the shaft and assist in removal process then see if I take to driveshaft shop or just replace joints...thanks again

Mark

Ivylog wrote:
Not that hard to get the caps out but getting the new ones back in without displacing the needles can be difficult if you have not done it before.

Smear a finger full of grease around the inside of the needles, it will help hold them in place.

The problem with replacing them yourself is they are really big - too big for the rental tool you get most places. You can pound them in and out but that's risky. (Don't even think of pounding on an aluminum DL)
The last time I did it I just took it to a drive line place and had them supply the joint and press it in. It cost me about $17 over doing it myself and buying the joint. And they will get it centered perfectly.

Have you looked at the drive shaft? If you have bolt-on caps, it's a cinch. Just remove the cap holding bolts, drop out the entire universal and replace with a new one. You don't have to pull the individual caps off. If your bearing caps are pressed in and held with either internal or external snap rings, you'd be better to pull the shaft all the way out. Whatever you do, mark the position of the expansion spline before you turn a bolt. If you don't get this spline back together correctly, the mis-aligned universals can cause drive shaft vibrations that will cause premature failure in the new universals. If you have to press out the universal caps to remove them and the drive shaft, you might consider paying a shop to do it. I've had some come out and go back together very easily, and some that were just about impossible to do without a portable hydraulic press. Good luck.

Mark,

With that chassis, assume you have fit the new design rear trailing arms (a critical safety issue):

http://community.fmca.com/topic/569-important-safety-problem-monaco-holiday-rambler-safari-chassis/

You will be 1/4th way through replacing the U joints by the time you get it out. More than likely you have U joints where the caps are bolted in and you have to remove two caps on each joint to get the shaft out. Not that hard to get the caps out but getting the new ones back in without displacing the needles can be difficult if you have not done it before. You will be laying on your back holding the shaft with one hand and trying to slide the cap on with the other while keeping everything aligned. You do not know if you've hit one of the needles in the cap until you cannot get the last cap to bolt all the way up.
Since you did your own CAC repair this is something you might be able to do but I'd have a truck repair place price it out as they may be able to buy the joints cheaper so letting them do it might add up as it should only take one hour.

My experience is that the driveshaft must be removed. How else would you do it?