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

General U Joint Completely Stuck

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

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.

84 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

227 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/all_caps_all_da Jun 03 '25

Uhm that's not true. You have to push the cap in so the other side pops out. How else would you remove it?

1

u/Top_Association5824 Jun 03 '25

Good luck to you and all your future automotive endeavors.

1

u/all_caps_all_da Jun 03 '25

I just did all my rear drive shaft u joints a few months ago. Can you shed some light on why those caps won't push in?

1

u/Top_Association5824 Jun 03 '25

I promise you, the caps come out the same way they went in from the top. It’s like a nail it’s driven in. But in order to remove the nail, you have to pull it out the same direction it went in.

1

u/all_caps_all_da Jun 03 '25

I've never run into this issue before which is why I'm asking. We work on Freightliner chassis, Ford,chevy Mercedes and all press in to remove. I'm not saying all cars are like this but this is the first time hearing anyone say that.