Uh Huh. 13 Minutes. Sure. My Patootie.

[cheesy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxluDLJ6eNY

I don't think this guy has ever worked on a Jeep that has spent ten winters outside and has never seen the inside of a garage.

I started at 7:30 am and finished at 3:30pm. Granted, that included one trip to HF for their big slide hammer puller and two trips to the office. Once, because the GM locked himself out of the building and I live closest. Second, to use our 20 Ton press to swap out the u-joint.

Big issue was the hub. It was not going to come out in one piece. I used the slide hammer to yank the drive flange from the bearing housing. Then used the slide hammer with a puller for a Dana 70 hub to get the bearing housing off the spindle. Once all that was dealt with and the u-joint was swapped, it fell back together.

Oh, yeah. Star headed flange bolts should be illegal. Once the heads rust, they're done. I ended up making a trip to Ace, too, for three new M12x90 hex head bolts to mount the hub to the spindle.

But, my efforts have eliminated the '53 MPH Death Wobble' and the 2nd to 3rd gear 'shudder' that sounded, and felt, like a bad trans mount.

Now I can quit trying to shoehorn the quad cab Chevy into a Jeep sized parking spot.

[culcune]

I didn't watch the video, but the best comparison I can think of is when you need something, and one of your friends tells you, "yeah, it's like $4 at Wal Mart. I bought one 'just the other day.'" You go to Wal Mart, and sure enough--$20 is the lowest priced item! Where the heck is that "$4" one??

[Bruce's]

I totally believe it cheesy ,no problem doing it in 13 minutes .First off ,did you notice how shiny the upper ball joint is ? Yup he just had it all apart to do that .Then ,watch what the bearing does when he removes the rotor ,yup ,it's flopping around in the breeze .How about the axle nut ? Notice he used the one foot long power bar for about 1/4 turn before being able to turn it with his fingers ....yup in real life that happens ...Not! .The best is the love tap he gives the bearing with the hammer before he removes it with his fingers from the housing .Honestly ,I just watched the video with no sound on ,so I have no idea if he admits to any of the bs or not ,but there is Zero way he did it in 13 minutes the day before when he first did it to replace the ball joint ,but for this video I see it being legit .
Now ,having done more than my share of crappy Dana 30 and pretend-a-44 axle work on the of yj and tj jeeps ,I am hoping you also did the upper and lower ball joints at the same time at a minimum ,yet I generally won't touch the inner joint without a new hub bearing as well .Hammering the bearing off with a sledge hammer is generally the preferred method of removal ,but you can loosen those very "special" bolts several turns ,then using a socket and extension between the bolt and the housing and cranking the steering against the extension will pop the bearing off as well .

[cheesy]

Knowing what I do now, Bruce, it will be all new next time. This was just going to be a 'morning project' so it was done in my driveway, with just a new u-joint. The project was complete with Mechanic Delay Factor, or MDF, which is when your neighbor wanders over and asks '"Whatchadoin?".

I was thinking that some hardened metric eye bolts screwed into the bolt holes of the hub in conjunction with a slide hammer and three jaw puller might work to remove the hub. Your idea is better. Next time.

Seals and bearings are next on the rear axle and that will be done on a Saturday at the shop. Done it before on a different vehicle, so I have half a clue.

[Bruce's]

Of course ,since I do love my jeeps and have wanted a LJ for years ,you could just rid yourself of the problem vehicle and send it to me for proper disposal .I can pm you my address ,or I guess I could just come get it some day whichever you prefer works for me .
Bruce.

[cheesy]

Of course ,since I do love my jeeps and have wanted a LJ for years ,you could just rid yourself of the problem vehicle and send it to me for proper disposal .I can pm you my address ,or I guess I could just come get it some day whichever you prefer works for me .
Bruce.

Dream on.;) Besides, probably need a bank loan just for fuel to get it all the way to Sudbury, where I've spent all of one night. Nah, I'll keep my little heap until the wheels fall off.

BTW, the MaxBrakes Elite xDS kit I installed, that led to this fiasco, are freaking fantastic. I did the upgrade to carbon/metallic pads. What a difference. http://maxbrakes.com/c-1002950-brake-kits-elite-xds-series-kits.html

[2LZ]

This is right up there with the "Install this garage door opener in just 1 hour!"....that takes at least a half hour to unbox and count the pieces.

[FastDoc]

I can relate, Cheezester.

Sometimes an easy job can become a nightmare because of one inaccessable fastener or a corroded bolt. Good on you for perserverence!

An example was on Saturday my buddy Monte and I needed to adjust the voltage regulator on my plane. There is a little box with a screw in it you turn to raise or lower the setpoint of the regulator. Sounds easy enough.

The unit was mounted on the inner firewall above the co-pilot's feet. Hard to see much less get to.

To access the screw to adjust it we had to remove the cover. To remove the cover we had to remove the unit from the firewall. To access the back side of the firewall we had to remove the cowling.

So, like in your case, what should have been aquick easy job took two hours.