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Rhythmic Squeaking coming from U-joint

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    Posted: 19 Aug 19 at 18:49
Hey people here's what happened to me.

Was a rhythmic squeaking coming from the back of the car for a while. Was only audible when going very slowly, usually parking or reversing, and only audible with the window open. It was a repetative squeak which got faster or slower in time with the speed of the car.

Jacked up the car at the back and found that if I manually span either wheel then the sound was produced.  Figured that meant it wasnt wheel bearings or brakes rubbing because it was on both wheels the same. Crawled under the van and the sound appeared to be coming from the propeller shaft.

Re-oiled rear axle, that didnt change anything.

So I jacked up the back again and took out the propshaft to have a proper look. When I took it out I could see that the rear U-joint (the one that connects with the rear axle) could only move on one of its two axis... i.e. that it was f*cked.

My Universal joint was not held in place with clips, but appeared to be embossed in place, like the one described in this thread:

Couldn't find anything on the internet about removing such a u-joint, i guess it was LT specific? Luckily when i went to the german forum and found this guide... thank god for google translate.

The u-joint was stuck in so hard that hammering didn't do anything. I got it out with a vise, and it took bloody ages. Found this video really usefull:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGKX6kwKvSE

Got one axis out like that, then angle grinded the rest out of there, as shown in the german how-to page. Was definately faster but a bit nerve racking as i really  didnt want to slip and grind into the propshaft. Wouldnt recommend it if you're not comfortable with angle grinder.

For putting in the replacement U-joint I followed the same guide and bought a Hyundai Galloper U-joint.

The Galloper joint is held in place with G-clips, but my propshaft didnt have any grooves for them to clip into. In the german guide the writer tells you to grind the groove in there with a Dremel. I've read elsewhere that you can also just weld it in place. A few told me it worked for them, but a few warned that welding could bend and damage the bearings of the new u-joint, or worse the propshaft.

The German guide doesn't explain at all how to do this part, and i'd never used a dremel in my life but decided to give it a try... im confident with drawing and angle-grinding and i figure that Dremel is half way between the two.

I would advise anyone doing this to push the old bearings back into their places, (not the X piece, just the bearings, so you can take them out easily after) This will give you a guide for where you have to cut your groove - just above where the bearings will be. Without a guide of some kind its very hard to cut a perfect circle on the inside of a cylinder, especially when sparks start flying.

Cut first with a thin disc, it goes in easier and is easier to make a neat and straight line. Then after cut with a disc as wide as your G-clip.

Puttin the new U-joint in was almost as much of a b*stard as taking the old one out. As i was pressing the first half in one of the bearings would go onto the X-piece all the way, which i assumed meant one of the needle bearings had fallen out of place and was blocking it.  I had to take it out again without damaging it which was incredibly hard. Once it was out, put the needle bearings back in place with tweezers.

And as the guide says i put some adhesive into the grooves before i put the clips in, just to be sure.

Put it all back in place and squeaking noise is no more!

Thought i'd share this experience for other people encountering similar problems. Feel free to give feedback.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Junk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 19 at 18:52
Thats last bits supposed to say "As i was pressing the first half in one of the bearings wouldn't go onto the X-piece all the way"
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