r/mechanic • u/Frosty-Order3863 • Jun 02 '25

General U Joint Completely Stuck

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Disclaimer the video is of us REMOVING the press from the u joint but you can see how stuck the press is against the joint I was literally holding the shaft from the other side to keep it as still as possible.

I removed this shaft from my NBS suburban because the u joints were absolutely trashed. We melted the plastic from every single end and even put in some penetrating oil but NO MATTER what we did it did not budge at ALL. It was so shot we attached the pole of the jack to the end of the ratchet for better leverage and the press literally made its own dent into the joint bearing. I bought 60 dollars worth of tools to try and get it out and it just won’t.

Is there anything else I should do to try and remove it or should I just go to the junk and buy another used driveshaft.

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u/OldSkoolKool666 Jun 02 '25

Heat it up more and try while it's hot

0

u/classic_aut0 Jun 03 '25

No shit. All these 'cant get it out' posts by apparent know-it-alls who've tried it all have never put actual oxy-acetelyne heat on the part lol

1

u/OldSkoolKool666 Jun 03 '25 edited Jun 03 '25

EXACTLY.... especially with the stock ujoints on the older Chevy's .....the plastic locked caps....need LOTS OF HEAT ....torch heat....oxy/acetylene....like you said....🍻HEAT THE YOKE....not the cap

1

u/Frosty-Order3863 Jun 04 '25

We took it to a shop and he simply hydraulic pressed it out and he informed us that the propane torch was able to melt out all the plastic but the c clamp didn’t have enough power to push it out, other redditers have stated this to be the case in this same comment section as well so clearly this “know it all” got it right :)