ok i have a bad wheel joint front passenger you know the joint holdin he two axles together how do you change this thing its whoopin me. i pulled off the brakes and tryed pullin the hub and only the piece with the wheel studs came off the plate that the 3 bolts go in didnt and yes i removed the bolts but i cant get the plate off for the axle to slide through. can someone tell me what all im suposed to do to change this ujoint and also how to get that plate off though i feel the plate was suposed to come as a assemble and does the axle gotta come out also what bearings and seals do i need to put everything back new

 

It sounds like somehow you separated the hub bearing assy. Probably a good thing you found it now the way you did. You have to remove the axle nut in the center of the hub (you didn't mention doing that). Then you could thread the star head bolts part way back into the 1/2 of the hub bearing that's still on the axle and whack em' from behind. Heat's another good choice and there's wedging a 3/8's extension in there against the head of the bolts and turning the steering wheel.

 

ok now we got that out the way and say the hub assemble is off correct how do i finish the job

 

They have c-clips on the inside of the yoke. Remove those and either beat them out with a hammer and some sockets or use a vise and some sockets to press them out.

 

so i will have to completly remove the right axle inside and out anything special gotta go into that or just remove the hub and slide the axle out

 

slide it out and good luck haha. I tried like 3 diff screwdrivers till i found one that would knock those clips out, but then still couldn't get my joints to move a bit haha it is originally a NY jeep so thats probably why. Anyway i took the shafts to a shop and they pressed it out and pressed in the new ones for $85 including tax. but im going to try to rent a ball joint puller for my driver side now to see if that works out.

 

I was doing the same job today... ball joint puller not such a good idea, we used one and ended up bending my yoke. spent 3 hours trying to get the new u joint in and ended up taking it to a shop that confirmed that it was bent in, and they guy said I probably need a new yoke/axle assembly, but was still able to get the new u joint in... long story short be careful. FYI, NY jeep here... Rust blows.

P.S. I brought in the yoke/axle shaft assy with the new u joint, and was only charged $10 to install it (the old one was already out)

 

oh and Yeah it definitely sounds like you separated the wheel hub, it should all come out as one assembly, You can probably do this without taking off the 36mm nut, though, I wouldn't think it would be too easy.

 

yea i seperated it and im thinkin about just driving it back together if it give problem ill change it but did ur axle slide out or did u have to do alot of other stuff to the diff the haynes says to open the duff and all kinds of garbage

 

Well considering that the hub is the only thing holding your wheel to you cherokee I wouldn't recommend it... Once I got the hub out of the knuckle (I had to persuade it out) the axle shaft actually came out with it, which I wasn't expecting... and I'm hoping that I didn't tear my oil seal inside the axle... but no, you shouldn't have to do anything inside the diff the shaft should just pull right out.

 

take a pic of your hub assembly and post it. i'm just not getting this clearly.
it takes a lot to pull apart the hub assembly. even with a grinder, it is a tough job.
so take a pic so we can see where you're at with this thing.

you can also search utube for some vids to replace the u-joint.

 

How about doing a search of the tech articles section here? I know there is a write-up in there. Search... Changing U-joints on a Dana 30.

 

The article on changing a u-joint in a dana 30 was very good. I just did this last week. Take the tire off, take brake off. Take the axel nut off (36mm I believe, rent the socket from the store).The rotor will now come off. Take the three star bolts off (13mm, make sure you use a 12 point socket or you'll round off the bolt. To take the hub off is a pain, I used a cheisal and hammer, you'll bend the snot out of the dust sheild but it works. Dont pound on the star bolts those things are 10bucks (here in western MI) a piece, dealer part.

after the hub is off the axel will slide right out. I used a nut and hammer to get the caps pushed through. Make sure you get the c-clips out or the caps will never budge. After the new stuff is in coat the maiting surface of the hub and the threads of the axel nut with anti-seize...make it easier the next time you gotta do it.

 

I used the article changing u-joints dana 30,We did both in roughly 3 hours.My jeep is a real upstate jeep,as in 20-25 minutes from canada.A little extra work has kept both xj s and my p/u pretty much rust free underneath,as far as rust scale and thick rust.