Driveshaft U-Joint Fitment Issues

I believe it's a 489 case. I don't know if it's got a crush sleeve or solid spacer. Gotta get in there and look. I'm going to buy the DoctorDiff yoke this week and just swap it out unless I can find a good used yoke at the local yard. If it DOES have a crush sleeve, how do you set preload?

the right way ... with a new crush sleeve that is not easily replaced .

You took the yoke off already , correct ?

Yes I did. It felt like there was about 100 ft lbs of torque behind it, more or less. The rear has zero miles on the rebuild so it came out like butter.

By the way, the guy at my driveline shop said that there are chevy/mopar conversion U-joints and suggested possibly making my rear axle yoke a chevy, since he had a bunch on the shelf and couldn't find a mopar yoke that would fit the tube. You can go the other way on those U-Joints, mopar axle to Chevy rearend if you like... But seriously, who in their right mind...

Anyhow, the chevy rear yokes I think are notched, so I know that it wasn't set up for a chevy conversion joint.

I pulled the seal this morning and took a few pix. I was surprised to see, not a crush sleeve or a pack of shims but one thin shim between the bearing and the yoke. It is indeed a 489 case.






Am I looking at the right thing here or would it be behind the bearing?

By the way. Is it just me or does gear oil STINK???

It's behind the bearing you see in the picture you posted.

Hmmmm. I thought, maybe… I'll be back...

That bearing is in there tight. how do I pull that thing without damaging it?

You don't unless you have the proper tool designed to pull a bearing like that and not damage it

Or with some luck , screwdrivers and maybe a little heat on the inner race ...

Thank you, John. The deeper I go, the more pissed off I'm getting. This would have been cake if I had just read the damn service manual instead of doing what the driveline guy told me to do. Since I didn't measure the preload before pulling the yoke, I'm really hosed or I am guessing and likely screwing it up. So frustrating.

I heated it up, pried with a screwdriver, tried to pull it with a magnet, prayed, waved over it a few times with my magic amulet… Zero. Can't get it out. Searched for a tool go pull it with… Zero. All I see is clam shell pullers. Anyone got a picture of the correct tool?

Well, there is always pulling the diff out and using a soft faced mallet to pop the pinion out the back, probably more than you want to do though.

I'm NOT saying it's textbook correct but, I have successfully replaced pinion yokes/seals several times on different applications without replacing the crush sleeve. Pinion depth won't be affected as it is set with shim behind the rear pinion bearing. Most crush sleeves take a pretty good amount of torque to "crush". If you use a souped up snap-on gun you'll crush the sleeve further. I use a new nut or at minimum red loctite. I generally use a 1/2 drive ratchet and tighten about as tight as I can get it by hand while holding the yoke with a fabbed up tool or dare I say large chain wrench , rotating the yoke as it gets tight. If once nut is tight, the yoke doesn't rotate fairly easily or is rough when rotating, then it must be redone. Not trying to mislead, just sharing another possible option and as always, this is just my

I did not read the whole thread but if that tapered bearing needs to come out what about drilling/tapping the face of it then slide hammering it straight back out? then purchase a new one of course. work under neath it so to keep the shavings from going inward & grease the drill bit for that also

This is one way to go about it, look at the torque spec for the thread pitch of the nut used and do not excee it , maybe go a little under , RED LOCTITE is your friend hear.

RabidRobert , have to ever tried to drill a bearing ??? Not and option.

SKF makes the tool you would need , but it's $$$$$$

Also there is no reason to pull the bearing , you can't get the crush sleeve out that way anyway.

This yoke is garbage. The mating surface is not half way through the cap. A yoke should completely contain the cap. The straps will see NO torque or load, they basically are there to keep the driveshaft from falling out.

Maybe another way for me to describe a proper yoke is. The cap is surrounded by 200 degrees of yoke and the strap provide the remaining 160 degrees.

So even with a proper yoke, bottoming out the straps is not that critical.

Sorry guys. I got away from this post for a day. I'm really glad you guys picked it back up. I wanted to pull the bearing BECAUSE… I thought maybe, just maybe the guy that built it replaced the crush sleeve with a cone and shim setup. I think that rather I am going to go with the by gosh and by golly method and try to get it tight enough to start feeling a little drag, mark it, pull the nut, clean the bolt and nut, red Loctite it and tighten it all back up. The weird thing is that the FSM recommends at least 170 ft lbs when not replacing the crush sleeve (They also recommend marking the nut position before you remove the damn thing…) That's quite a bit of torque, considering I tighten my lugs to 100 ft lbs and that seems like a lot. I've never tried this so I guess I'll just watch the drag and try to set it up somewhat like a front break bearing. Keep the thoughts coming. I'm ordering from Doctor Diff tonight so I can get this thing done over the weekend.

I wanted to say it was something that high of a torque value , it takes more than that to start crushing the sleeve.

Torque value is based on diameter and number of threads per inch , the pinion stem is double the size of a lug nut.

Makes total sense. Great yet simple explanation. Thank you, john.

Update! I bought a new Doctor Diff forged U bolt style yoke. Thank you Cass! This is a beautiful piece. Also got a new seal. Question. What do I use between the housing and the seal's steel mating surfaces to insure a drip free seal?

Any sealer of some sort , pick your poison.

I didn't seal the teeth but did use a little sealer on the seal. Turned out nice.