U-joint replacement

[Ian Renner-arjes]

Having an issue replacing my rear drive shaft u joints on my 99 Chevy k1500 truck. I cannot remove the bolts from the holders to drop the shaft out. there is not enough clearance to pull them out. will unloading the rear end by jacking up the frame instead of the axels help? Was thinking that this would change the angle of the drive shaft and allow me to have clearance.

Topic

[Blake]

Yes that will lower the axle and you will be able to remove the bolts. Chuck the wheels with blocks of wood and put the truck in neutral so you can spin the drive shaft and access the bolts easier that hold the u-joint on the yoke.

[619DioFan]

if the bolts are loose stick a pry bar behind the ujoint ( between the ujoint and rear axle mount flange ) and pry the drive shaft forward. this will give you more space to either finish loosening the bolts or remove them if already loosened all the way

[Bill]

Yeah…..619DioFan is correct.

[Tom]

I’ll give a third to using a pry bar to just move the drive shaft forward a bit. The yoke has some room to move into the tail of the transmission. That bit you move it forward should give you enough wiggle room to finish getting those bolts out.

[Daniel]

I would raise the rear end so (like lugnut96 said) you can spin the driveshaft.

[Ian Renner-arjes]

Ty all for the replies, i just got it done today.

[college man]

Glad it worked out. 🙂

[Author]

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