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[akdsmer]

For the record, every u-joint but one has been replaced on my 04 Dodge.
The right front axle joint had been clicking for the last few weeks, so I decided I had better replace it. I knew this was going to be a bear as the last side was as well. The whole removal discription is like 5 things-remove wheel, remove caliper, remove rotor, remove abs sensor, remove hub and remove axle. Like 15 bolts INCLUDING the wheel (8-lug) and 1 3/4" hub nut! The problem is that once you remove the 4 bolts holding the hub on, the hub won't come off (Mel likely knows exactly what I'm talking about). I actually damaged the last hub replacing the other joint last winter.

After removing all the bolts (like 10 minutes) I was left with getting the hub removed. I had heard that you could use much longer bolts and use the power steering to "push" the hubs off, but I could not find any really long 14x2.0 metric bolts. I did spend $17.55 on longer bolts and screwed them in to beat the hub off. I ended up using my Air hammer and sledge hammer to beat this off. In the process I pounded on it so long the heads on 3 of the bolts were mushroomed out to the point that a socket a couple sizes up wouldn't fit. After an hour of alternating sides and air/sledge hammers I finally got it to pop off. Think this joint needed to be replaced? :oops:



Now to drop off the shaft to get the old joint pressed out and the new joint pressed in since these monsters are too big for my joint press (and I'm too lazy to make up an adapter for my ball joint press ).