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How tough replacing clutch master cyl and u-joints on 86 Cherokee?

The ongoing saga of the driveshaft and the clutch master cylinder...

Hey, all of you guys are a big help!!! :o)

A bit of background... I'm from Dallas but moved to S. Padre Island about 2 years ago. I've heard recently that the Gulf of Mexico is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world. Well, the salty air is doing a major number on this old '86 2wd Jeep Cherokee rust-wise. I've driven it on the beach but not lately... till I can get the rust under control.

At any rate, today I managed to get the bearing retainer bolts loose using a liberal application of WD-40... pulled the driveshaft out from the xmission. (Did I screw up doing that?) I'm sure it could always use new gear oil, although the gear oil that drained into the pan looked fine. Nice and clear.

So... I banged on the (journal cross?) that fits into the xmission (not in a critical area like near the bearing caps) and got the bearing caps to "walk out". So I now have a loose driveshaft with 4 *extremely* seized bearing caps soaking in WD-40... and a (journal cross?) that is in like new condition except for rust on the exposed area, and some rear retaining straps that look ok... (but just now I read that you don't want to re-use those?)

Banged on the u-joints (on the shaft ends which now have no bearing caps) trying to "walk" them out of the yoke but no joy. Talked to a garage on the mainland and asked him what it would take to get them out and he mentioned a torch and $45. I don't think I want a torch on my driveshaft. The steel at the yoke is damn tough now but a torch might change that.

What other methods can I try to dislodge these seized bearing caps? Some freon spray maybe? Wait for WD-40 to do it's magic?

(==============================)

So on to the clutch master cylinder. When it was failing, I could add brake fluid to the reservoir, and pump the pedal, and get it to operate the slave so I could drive the Jeep.

However now, no amount of pumping will operate the slave. Looking at the chamber, it has plenty of fluid, but after I pump the pedal and then look at the reservoir, I see a lot of small air bubbles on the surface (like foam, but not a lot of foam) So I'm wondering if the seals are just so bad on the master that they are introducing air into the reservoir? The slave cylinder at the xmission is external but I couldn't locate a bleed screw unless it's the thing that feels like a grease zerk on the topside of the slave cylinder.

In all of this I did discover an excellent product in the form of a "rust converter" made by Napasco. It does a good job of arresting rust. Jeep had hail damage from Dallas, but wasn't in bad shape body-wise til I got down here. Now I'm having to kill a lot of rust spots and will have to deal with some perforations around the top of the windshield. Looks like a visit to the body shop is coming up as well.

Reply to
<m>
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I'm not clear on how you "walked the bearings out..." but the usual method is to remove the C-clips that hold the bearing caps in place (one on each cap) then put a socket under one end to serve as a receiver. Drive the other end thru the yoke to push the opposite cup into the receiver socket. On some, the one you are banging on will push far enough thru to fall out the inside, but on most I wind up turning it over and driving that end out the side as well. Once I finally got a 6 inch vise, I just pushed them thru instead of using BMFH tool.

The purpose of the heat is NOT to melt anyth> The ongoing saga of the driveshaft and the clutch master cylinder... >

Reply to
Will Honea

Thanks much.

Was banging on the exposed ends of the u-joint without bearing cups and not the yoke... but sounds like I should just bang on the bearing cups.

For some reason the it looked like the bearing cups on the new u-joints were tapered (with the wider end at the outside)... so that if I tried to drive the old ones out the other side, it would just seat the bearing cup even worse. If they're not tapered then sounds a lot easier. Maybe will be ok tomorrow after the WD-40 bath.

As far as "walking the bearings out" I was ripping off the term I saw in

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as provided byL.W. (ßill) Hughes III. ;o) The cups at the rear, held in by the straps, were the easiest... and the cups at the journal cross came out fairly easily too.

Reply to
<m>

I worked for my father-in-law for a year or two in his service station (way back when they were actually SERVICE stations) and he had this huge vise the used to do u-joints - damend thing must have opened easily 10-11 inches. He had a fixture he had welded up that had a hole for the exiting cup and a fork that pushed on the cross arms for removal. I think that was the only time I ever saw anyone use anything except the opposite bearing cap to push the old ones out ( or the bare shaft once the first side was done.

One hint: when you go to put the new ones in, make sure you start them straight into the yoke. If they get a bit cocked off to one side they are a bitch and a half to do anything with.

Sounds like you might want to f> Thanks much.

Reply to
Will Honea

One tip, save the WD40 for things that get wet and need to be dried. It is a great water displacement fluid, but it totally sucks as a penetrating fluid.

Get something like PB Blaster or liquid wrench. They will do in an hour what WD40 takes 3 days to loosen up.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

m wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Hey M, Glad to see another Jeeper who resides in SPI! I'm in Brownsville. Have you done the 30 mile dune ride north of the Island?

Reply to
Nick

Oh that's a big 10-4 on the 30 mile run up to the cut. I did that first thing after I got the jeep over here on the ferry while the bridge was out. I need to get some wider tires and rims at some point but I've gotten pretty good at staying un-stuck. Wish the topside of the jeep was in as good shape as the underside is. Slopped some Napasco on the driveshaft and might need some in a couple of other spots underneath but looks like it will outlast the topside. Leaf springs need it too but they did a good job of rubberizing most of the underside at the factory. Hey do you know a good body shop around here?

Great to see the sunshine this week after that danged overcast crap, eh?

Skip (m=Skip by the way... I hate spam and finally got it under control lol)

Reply to
<m>

Thanks for the tips Mike!! I've never used these other products but yep they'd be worth using I'm sure. Have a preference for PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench? Have a really great little ACE hardware here that I bet has both.

Also, if you've never tried TriFlow teflon lube it's a great product too. I use it on my bicycle chains and it doesn't grab as much dirt as WD-40 does and it's really slippery stuff- you can feel a big difference in pedaling effort. Having to learn about these specialized lubes and such since I'm now in salt air/sand blast all the time. Never needed anything except WD-40 before heh.

Skip

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Reply to
<m>

Hi Skip, Negative on the body shop...I'm a budding Jeeper..still learning the trades and still learning the basics. I did take my Jeep into the local Jeep dealership in Brownsville (Don Johnson) and would not rate them very highly--they forgot to do a few of the items that I told them to do. So I had to do it myself. Oh well, learned anyways.

Feel free to shoot an email my way ( snipped-for-privacy@rgv.rr.DIESPAMMERScom).

Reply to
Nick

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