I have no vise....

But I need to swap out the axle side u joint on my S10. Is there any way I can accomplish this feat without the use of a vise? Any and all help is appriciated!

A large c clamp will work. Or you can take it to your local machine shop.

The driveshaft shop I use in Springdale doesn't use a vice or a press. The guy there has a BFH.

make sure you take out any snap rings if there are any

sometimes if you use the right sized socket it can help punch out a joint

hammer time!

Look for snap rings. If there are none, its glued in place, and you will need to heat the cup to melt the glue out. If they are the glued in place units, its replaced with internal snap rings.

And go buy a vice. You will be a happier guy.

Streetwiseguy wrote: And go buy a vice. You will be a happier guy.

What he said.

No mechanic worth their salt can live without a good one.

I broke an old Craftsman vice doing a U-joint (yeah, I know). The iron casting actually broke. I had another one inside of a week.

Get a vice - but in a pinch - 2 sockets and 1 BFH. one socket fits within diameter of cap, 2nd socket is bigger than diameter of cap. Remove snap rings, place little socket on top, big socket as spacer/reciever. Apply force with BFH to little socket until cap is out. Turn & repeat (take the driveshaft off first- it's much easier). I did all 8 u-joints on my old bronco this way.

A vise is a awesome thing but I'm sure you now realize that.

FWIW, my Napa will swap a u-joint for $5. Cheap price to save my knuckles.

if you can find a 3 ton arbor press on craigslist they make doing ujoints a snap along with lots of bearing jobs, etc. and dont take up the space of a hydraulic press. i personally like the greenerd stuff but theres a lot of good ones. just look for cracks around the gears and hammer marks on the ram to avoid abused ones.

and definitely get a vise too.

I once saw a show where an aborigine guy repaired a leaky radiator over a campfire. Anything's possible.

I have probably four of the things in assorted sizes. Five including the one on my mill. Buy one. They are useful for all kinds of stuff.

Oh, six of you count smoking. I don't recommend that.

1988RedT2 wrote: I broke an old Craftsman vice doing a U-joint (yeah, I know). The iron casting actually broke. I had another one inside of a week.

My wee chicken arms broke my Mastercraft vice the same way trying to replace a non-replaceable u-joint (Yay Rockford Driveline!). But before I replaced it with a nice Record vice, I had a go with a Fairly Big Hammer, missed, and now have a Fairly Big Scar on my left hand, just below the knuckle. I guess I didn't miss, exactly. A hydraulic press was the best for that u-joint. Stupid Toyota.....

I dented my driveshaft because I had no vice and my BFH wasn't big enough. A big one worked way better. Seriously, the whole "get a bigger hammer" thing really does work and does LESS destruction. And this is coming from an engineer.

Oh, and beware! Some U joints done by GM had plastic pins holding them in the shaft. You cannot BFH them out, but a little heat (propane will do it) will handle it.

A vise is deff on my list of things to get. My last one was yoinked and hasn't made it up that far the list. Been watch yard sales, but no dice.

Thanks for all the tips! And an arbor press is deff on my want list since I'd like to be able to do tranny work someday. And, not in a Las Vegas tranny sort of way.

oh, forgot to say...

This is my only car. I don't think Napa would like me dropping my propshaft in their parking lot.

AquaHusky wrote: oh, forgot to say... This is my only car. I don't think Napa would like me dropping my propshaft in their parking lot.

When I was in college I took it all out only to find out that my vise wasn't big enough (and my aforementioned wimpy hammer dented the driveshaft rather than installed the u joint). This was a fullsized mid eighties truck, like 5" diameter, 7' long. I brought it to the parts store after calling to confirm they had a vise. On my bike. It was just over a mile one way. I got a lot of odd looks. It's a good thing I was really good at hands free bike riding at that point. Also, what the heck is it with dirt roads in Michigan right off of Corunna road? They made it tough.

Sadly, the only place I could find that had a bit of space to fit 30 or 40 parts cars was 20 miles from town! Me and my space always gets me in trouble! Haha

when i setup my future CJ8 i'll mount a vise right on the front or rear bumper

tuna55 wrote: Also, what the heck is it with dirt roads in Michigan right off of Corunna road? They made it tough.

Were you a Flintoid at the time? Yeah, it's kind of weird how many dirt roads are around Michigan, especially in the cities.

Bryce

Nashco wrote:

tuna55 wrote: Also, what the heck is it with dirt roads in Michigan right off of Corunna road? They made it tough.

Were you a Flintoid at the time? Yeah, it's kind of weird how many dirt roads are around Michigan, especially in the cities. Bryce

I lived there for three months at a time, but I never considered myself one of them.

My vice is buying stupid crap for my cars when I really can't afford it...

and alchohol....

maroon92 wrote: and alchohol....

Too much, apparrenntlyy.

I used a really expensive vice once, $23k when new. It said Acura and RSX-S on the front and back. A radius rod washer was being annoying, so I drove the Acura on top of the radius rod to stop the rod from moving.