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Steering U-joint! How do I remove it???? HELP! 850

How the heck do I remove the steering U-joint on my 1995 850? I got the bolt out...Do I now have to remove the entire steering column from inside the car? The Haynes manual is not really helping me.








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Steering U-joint! How do I remove it???? HELP! 850

DONE! All help appreciated. 2 hour job... no snags. Stiff steering problem, SOLVED! Thanks, all.








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Steering U-joint! How do I remove it???? HELP! 850

I think I recently had the same problem you are having. I was replacing my steering rack and had to disconnect the U-joint from the rack's pinion shaft. Took the bolt out, but that joint was frozen solid to the shaft. Because of the subframe and the rack and whatever else down there, there is little of a straight shot to driving the joint off the shaft from below. What I did was place a cold chisel, that was made from about 1/2" hex stock, into a deep socket of the same size, and with a bunch of extensions threaded through that maze at the rear of the engine (driver's side), came out of the front of the engine compartment, with the chisel end resting in the split where the U-joint sits on the shaft. I pounded the crap on the end of my extension arrangement with a brass sledge hammer. It tool a tremendous amount of pounding to break that joint free--I mushroomed that split in the joint a bit. One thing that made it hard for me is that I made the mistake of unbolting the rack from its subframe mounting before releasing the joint from the shaft. So when I was pounding everything was moving a bit.

Are you replacing your rack?








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Steering U-joint! How do I remove it???? HELP! 850

So Ken, How does this 'joint' connect at the top? Let's assume the bottom is where the bolt and split are, what is the deal at the top? How does it disconnect? Will just getting it 'up' from the steering rack free it? Can it move 'up' ? Or do I need to take out the steering column from the inside of the car? Is it solidily connected between the splined shaft from the rack to whatever it is connected to at top? Is there play once I move it on the splined shaft?








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Steering U-joint! How do I remove it???? HELP! 850

The top, suprisingly, has quite a bit of free travel so it will move around easily once you break the bond at the split joint and the joint clears the shaft. Once you sense that you have broken that bond and you can sense some movement of the joint on the shaft, I would then free the rack, which will give you more flexibility.

Some suggestions if you are taking out the rack.

The instructions I was following did not mention taking out the sway bar first. I did and it did free up a bit more room to move things around.

I supported my car using jack stands under the front jacking points on the rocker panels under each front door. That kept the jackstands far enough back to give me lots of free movement.

I placed a 2x4 across the back edge of the oil pan (chipped out a relief where the drain plug was) and lifted the engine to remove the rear engine mount and the whole engine mount bracket, to free up some more room. I had first disconnected the upper stabilizer bar/mount to give the engine some unrestrained movement in the upward direction.

So that you can move them around, make sure you remove the mounting hardware that traps the two power steering lines at the back and the front of the subframe.

STRONG SUGGESTON: when you put your new rack in-place, one of the first connections you should make should be the two power steering lines. DO NOT bolt the rack down first and then try and connect the two lines to the rack. First connect the lines. I did it the other way and those lines are inflexible and the danger of cross-threading is too great.








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Steering U-joint! How do I remove it???? HELP! 850

An additional thought . . . in trying to free that joint, I would alternate between beating the crap out of that split from above and going under the car and using an extension to tap the joint off the shaft.

Because there was not a straight, clear path, from below, I was never able to get a solid shot from below. So, by the time I was able to move the joint from below with my light tapping, it was apparent that I had finally broken that joint/shaft interface.

So, with your pounding from above, don't expect that the joint will automatically pop off the shaft. You are still going to have to lightly tap it off from below.

I slathered anti-sieze compound on the shaft and joint when putting the whole thing back together.

BTW, I live in Chicago and, as a result, before pulling the rack, I spent an entire, solid day, just loosening all of the fasteners for this job. I hate breaking-off hardware and there were a number of fasteners that required hours of cajolling to get out without breaking. Had to drill out the little button-head screw that held down the rack heat shield. As a result, I use anti-sieze compound on everything I touch.







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