How do you change the universal joints on 98 s10 manual transmission pickup?

Answer 1

If you've never done it before it might be good to have someone show you for the first time, but in general: remove the driveshaft by disconnecting the (typically) 4 nuts that connect to the U bolts holding the rear U joint to the differential. There may be a slightly different configuration, depending on your vehicle. After the 4 nuts have been removed, slide the drive shaft forward enough to clear the differential, then you can lower that end of the drive shaft and slide it all back. The nose of the drive shaft will slide out of the transmission (or transfer case if it's a 4wd) and there may be a loss of Transmission Fluid, so be sure to have something to catch whatever drips out. At this point it is good to have someone experienced show you how to do it, but here goes. First, put a mark on the drive shaft and the u-joint yolk so that you can align them the same way. It is important since some drive shafts will be out of balance if you put them together backward. Look for retaining clips around each of the U-joint bearings. Some may be on the outside, others on the inside. You'll just have to figure it out. Remove the clips, noting that the bearings that were bolted to the differential do not have any clips and the bearing WILL fall out. After removing the retainer clips, press the u-joint bearing to one side enough to get the opposite bearing clear of the housing. Remove that bearing housing and discard, since it is pretty much destroyed by now. Press the center u-joint "star" the other direction, releasing the opposite bearing housing. Repeat this procedure for each u-joint bearing. Clean everything up, and start by pressing the new u-joint bearing into the yolk with the u-joint star loosly in the opening so that the needle bearings don't come out. If you have problems keeping the needle bearings in place, a little heavy grease helps to hold them while you're working. If the new u-joint has a grease fitting, make certain that it will be accessable when it's all together. If it's all assembled correctly you should be able to get the new retaining clips on, if there just isn't any way that the retaining clips will both go on, you may have accidentally turned one of the needle bearings and you get to take it all apart again. Good luck. U-joints can be a real pain in the ***.