Changing U-joints

[Mad Props]

Howdy...

I don't know if anyone will find this useful, but I noticed there were no good videos on youtube on how to change mercruiser u-joints. They aren't super complicated to change, but there are definitely a few tricks to the job. So, I decided to make a video of how to change them and hopefully it will help some other people in the future who have to do the same job.

DIdn't know of a better way to share it with the iboats community so I'm just going to post it here...

Enjoy...

P.S. This is the 2nd video in a series I'm doing on servicing an outdrive. The first video was draining the oil and pressure testing the drive so if you are interested in that, its on my youtube channel.

 

[harringtondav]

My comments: If it's necessary to remove a bearing retainer tooth, only one needs to be removed to provide room for the receiver adapter or socket. There is plenty of space to push from the opposite side between retainer teeth. You can just rotate the yoke 180 degrees to change sides between pushing and backing up/receiving. An alternative is to sacrifice a cheap socket by grinding the retainer tooth clearance in it so it still rests on the yoke and use it for a receiver. I prefer hacking up a $10 Menards socket to a $30 part. Then the butchered socket becomes a 'special tool' for the next time.


The only time I've had to replace Unis is when a bad drive shaft bellows flooded the drive shaft. Each time this happened the seal surface on the gear yoke rusted and took out the seal. This required pulling the entire drive shaft assy. and replacing the yoke along with the U joints. Then changing the Unis is a snap. I have a HF hyd press and use sockets, but a vise or front end C press like you used also works fine.

 

[achris]

TL;DW....

Mad Props 29 minutes for a uni joint change. I didn't watch it beyond 7 minutes, sorry.... Your videos need to be shortened, seriously. Get to the point, do the job, show only important stuff. The longest video I have done is 15 minutes, for an Alpha One Gen II water pump service. Everything else is under 10, that includes the shift cable adjustment and engine alignment videos...

You knocked 2 tabs off the retainer :facepalm: There is no need to do that. I have changed DOZENS of unis, and never once have I had to either remove the yoke from the housing (if it didn't need to come out anyway), or modify the retainer in any way. Just turn the shaft until the uni lines up with a gap in the tab and it pushes straight out....

Chris......

 

[Mad Props]

achris
I will take your advise as hopefully constructive criticism...I chose to make my videos for people that have never done these things before... i understand you have a wealth of knowledge and could do this with a blindfold but a lot of people have never done this before... I could have easily made the video 5 minutes long and left out the part where I discovered that the sticky in the forum for ujoints doesnt mention that not all a1g2 drives use the same ujoints. I could have also left the part out where I found out the rental tool does not fit on the yoke and it pinches the bearing cap.. list goes on...
point being, the style of videos I'm making are a combination of a vlog/ how to... if that doesnt fit someone's style feel free to move on to another video, I wont be offended...

as far as the retainer nut, I definitely screwed up.. I removed the one I showed before realizing one on the bottom had already been knocked off by the previous owner.. the other broke off by accident when i dropped the c clamp on it...

There's clearly more than one way to skin a cat, but for someone that has never skinned a cat or changed a uni, this will help them get it done...

 

[achris]

I will take your advise as hopefully constructive criticism...

That's all it was meant as.