by Art Gardner
If you start getting a “clanking” noise under your car, particularly when you step on or release the gas pedal, your universal joints may be worn and in need of replacement. I recently installed a set of U-joints on my car’s driveshaft. It took about 30 minutes to drive out the old ones and install the new ones. All you need to replace them is a screwdriver, a hammer, a large socket to support the end of the driveshaft and receive the “cups” and a 17 mm impact socket (I think 11/16) to use with the hammer to drive out the cups.
You remove the clips and drive one cup in (part at top left in the illustration below), which forces the opposite cup out. Then grab the cup that is jutting out with a pair of pliers and twist it until it is removed. Then tap the cross piece (part at lower left) back in to drive the other cup out the other way, then grab and remove the second cup with pair of pliers. Now just position the new cross in the yoke (part at lower right) and tap in the new cups, being careful to make sure that the needle bearings all stay in place. Once you have the cups tapped into position, lock them in place by installing the new C-clips (2.1440).
