I have traced the transmission vibration on my special to collapsed bearings in the prop shaft's UJs.
It is a late ruby type hardy spicer prop.
I have removed the shaft and have it on the bench but I can't for the life of me see how to remove the bearings to replace them
Not much brute force , but plenty of ignorance.
Has anyone got any suggestions please?
Take out the circlips retaining the bearing caps.
Drive a cap IN, this forces the one the other side out. Then drive the cruciform back to force out the one you've driven in.
Assembly, in the time honoured phrase, is the reverse of removal.
We've just done one on a Ciroen SM which is a bit more of a fiddle being inside the hub. It's front~wheel-drive.
05-04-2024, 08:22 PM (This post was last modified: 05-04-2024, 08:24 PM by David Stepney.)
Refitting the bearing cups requires a certain amount of care, as it is easy to displace a roller which will then get between the end of the cruciform and the end of the bearing cup.
The way I do it is as follows:-
1. Clean the bores in the yokes with a bit of emery cloth to get rid of any crud.
2. Start one of the cups into it's bore and assemble the cruciform into the yoke making sure that one of its legs engages with the bearing.
3. Using a vice, push the bearing cap flush with the top of the yoke.
4. Push the opposite bearing cap into the yoke a little way, sufficient so that, if you slide the opposite leg of the cruciform into it, it does not completely disengage from the one you have already fitted.
5. Keeping the cruciform in both bearings, gently squeeze the second cup into the yoke with the vice.
6. Make sure that the cruciform turns and slides between the cups easily.
7. Using a socket smaller than the bearing cap squeeze one cap in until you can fit the circlip into its groove.
8. Turn the yoke over and do the same with the other cap, making sure that the circlip goes properly into its groove.
Repeat the performance to fit the bearings to the other yoke.
Personally, I prefer to fit the bearings and cruciform to the yoke on the end of the propshaft first and fit the flanged yoke second as I find it easier.
Strangely enough, I have just fitted new universal joint kits to a Landrover propshaft this afternoon, so the technique is fresh in my mind.
When removing the old bearings, I found it easier to squeeze them out in the vice, rather than hammering them. I used a small socket to push one side and a larger on the other side into which the bearing that is being pushed out can sit.
It is a delicate job and I would never use a hammer or anything else to 'drive' the cups in or out. As Jamie says, use a vice. I find that a selection of sockets from a socket set are useful to enable the vice to push the bearing cups.
Whether the finished job will be out of balance is always a concern. It's probable best to mark the yolks so they go back in their original positions rather an 180 degrees out.
I am having trouble removing the bearings from the universal joint on the prop shaft of my Ruby. After removing the circlips and the adjacent crud I tried tapping the yoke expecting to see the bearing cap pop out as suggested by Woodrow. No such luck. I
I tried drifting it through. Eventually with savage blows from the hammer, I managed to move the caps through the yoke. The cruciform prevents the bearing cap from being pushed completely free - see photo. The protruding cap was stuck so fast that I could not pull it out even using vice grips. I tried drifting the bearings in the opposite direction with the same result.
I chiseled away the seal that retains the bearing rollers in case that was causing interference. That did not improve things.
After seeing the advice in this thread, I used sockets in the vice to press the bearing caps through, with the same result.
Does anyone have a suggestion to help me complete the job?
We can see one bearing cup protruding. Put that bit in the vice and rotate the propshaft. Work it backwards and forwards while pushing, so as to bring the cup out.
But after savage blows from a hammer the whole lot is probably distorted enough to be out of balance so it will vibrate like hell.
The only thing I can suggest is heat.
The Citroen shaft in the picture I put on here is similar in that the cap doesn't clear the yoke and needs to be pulled out. I have a vice grip with curved jaws and clamped it on the protruding cup and found that it could be rotated (just). Eventually it came out. I think heating the yoke might help at the same time rotating the cap rather than just pulling.
The Citroen one required serious hammering.
