Re: Replace u-joints w/out removing bearing retainer?
I misunderstood your first post, I think. I thought you were asking if you could replace the u-joints with the gimbal bearing in place, which was shown prominently in the picture, but you said bearing retainer, so you the meant bearing retainer
nut. I guess I had to sleep on it.
Every u-joint I've ever replaced (boat and automotive) was a press fit. I don't think I could hammer it in if my life depended on it. I've got some concerns about the u-joint bearing cap now being loose enough to tap into the yoke with a hammer. Then you've got the bent joke. I'd worry about pre-mature bearing failure due to the alignment being off. The yoke is an expensive part, but I would seriously consider replacing it, rather than having a yoke snap and leave you stranded, which happened to my neighbor this summer, but for different unknown reasons.
If you've abandoned the c-clamp method, then remove the retainer nut, take all the gears, seals, and shims off the short yoke, keeping everything in order, then try the bench vice & sockets method. You need one socket with an inside diameter slightly larger than the u-joint bearing cap, and another socket smaller than the bearing cap. Sandwich the yoke in the vice with the large socket on one side and the small socket on the other side and tighten the vice until the bearing cap pops out on the
outside of the yoke. Then flip the yoke around and reinstall in the vice such that the large and small sockets are on the opposite side that they were on during the first step. Now tighten the vice until the other bearing cap pops out on the
inside of the yoke. It takes a couple of adroit hands to get everything lined up, but once it's aligned properly, you've got tons of leverage to pop out even the most stubborn bearing cap.
Installation is simply the reverse of this.
Good luck.
