blew a ujoint yesterday

[wm69]

Dropped my driveshaft today

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Believe it or not that's the first time I've ever done it in 13 years of CJ ownership. Anyhow, just busted one of the straps on the yoke coming out of the back of my Dana 300. We just dropped the driveshaft and drove home in front wheel drive. Problem is this, one of the strap bolts sheared so I've got to either get a new yoke for the back of the tcase or take the yoke off and get what's left of the bolt out. Looks like there is a big nut holding the yoke up on the splines. Do I just take that nut off and pull the yoke off? I know there's a seal under that yoke too, so can I just leave that alone or will taking the yoke off tear the seal (if the seal is stuck to the yoke, which is not improbable with a Jeep this old. Anything I should look for as a problem in this repair. It's too dang hot to work on it today and I've got work this week so maybe try to get to it next weekend. Would any easyout work on that sheared bolt or am I gonna have to try and drill it out? I've never used an easyout but I know a lot of people here swear by them.
Thanks!

Is the ubolt setup better stronger than the strap/bolt setup? If so is it really better, or does that just mean that something else (more expensive to replace) will break instead of a strap?

 

[GaryMB]

The yoke should just pull right off when you take off that retaining nut; the seal shouldn't stick. The manual says you need a puller, but both my yokes just slid right off. I havn't had much luck with easyouts; I would just drill it. As for the straps, I've heard that the u-bolt style is stronger, but I don't know that much about the swap.

 

[Jackson04Jeep35s]

I dont know how bad your bolt is stuck... but I have used easyouts with 100% success in the past.

 

[redrooster]

Hose the broken bolt with penetrating oil and let it sit for a few minutes. Then take a center punch and hammer it at an angle so that you are loosening the broken bolt. 80% of the time a broken bolt will come out because the stress is relieved when the head snaps off.
If that doesn't work then remove the yoke and replace it with one that takes the u-bolts. You can use the easy out money towards the new yoke.

 

[SenorCole86]

It's easy to mod the yoke to take u-bolts instead of u-straps and it involves drilling a hole through that hole anyway, so you'll drill through that stuck bolt anyhow. Lemme find the writeup for it real fast . . . alright, here you go bud. Super easy : http://www.jeepaholics.com/tech/ujointconv/ujointconv.htm

 

[wm69]

Thanks man. I kinda wondered what the real difference between a "ubolt" and a "strap" yoke would be. Guess it's a little bit bigger holes. Course I put new straps/ujoints in YESTERDAY but I'm printing off those directions for future use/busy work if I get a slow weekend after it cools off. Good info.
Thanks again.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

You can sometimes tap the broken bolt into turning if there's enough material to grab. Otherwise take a hacksaw and cut across the face of the broken bolt and yoke, then turn the broken bolt out with a screwdriver. Groove in the face of the yoke doesn't hurt anything.

 

[redrooster]

Thanks man. I kinda wondered what the real difference between a "ubolt" and a "strap" yoke would be. Guess it's a little bit bigger holes. Course I put new straps/ujoints in YESTERDAY but I'm printing off those directions for future use/busy work if I get a slow weekend after it cools off. Good info.
Thanks again.

Some yokes are not flat across the back where the nut would tighten down. It's cast at an angle. Make sure it is flat before you bother drilling out for the u-bolts.