Ok, I read up on U-joint replacement but I still have some questions.

First..

Is a U-Joint just a Plus(+) shaped piece of metal with a needle bearing on the ends?

Are they hard to replace by myself? Do I have to pull the entire driveshaft to replace the rear? What's involved in pulling the Driveshaft?

What tools am I going to need?

Anyone run into difficulty replacing these joints? Tips?

Putting the Driveshaft back in any different or does it require compressing the slide yoke?

Thanks guys

 

Yes.
No, they aren't very hard. Yes, pull the entire driveshaft. There is really nothing to it. Remove the 8 bolts and it practically falls out. I like to mark it before I remove it, just to make sure it goes back on in the same position. Not sure if it really matters or not though.


The best tip I can give you is this:
Use an angle grinder with a 7" cut-off wheel to cut off the old joint. Just make 4 cuts near the retainer clips then pound out what is left of the bearing caps. Using this method, I can remove an old joint and have the new one on in about 5 minutes... Trying to pound out the old joints (with no grinder) is a real pain in the ass, if you ask me.

There is no trick to putting the drive line back in. You can compress it with your hands if need be.

 

Pull the rear drive shaft by unbolting the four bolts at both ends.

Remove clips at each end of U-Joint (star thing )

Hammer and punch, support yoke on vice or hard surface but leave room for the U-joint to push out. Socket, pipe... what ever.

Knock one side through, remove bearings. Knock back in other direction, remove bearings. Repeat two more times.

If the U-joint is junk, you can just cut the it out if you would rather with an angle grinder or similar.

Be careful you keep the slip joint in the same position should you for some reason pull the drive shaft into two pieces. It's important not to loose the position each yoke has in relation to the other end. Mark them if you are worried.

Some good pics here:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/ujoint_install/

Some times those suckers take a some hard hits to get them to budge.

 

Only tip I can add, is if you go to whackin' on the yokes to get a stubborn cap out, don't get too crazy. I lost my patience and whacked mine too hard once and ended up bending the yoke on one end of my driveshaft. Which is typical of me, when all else fails get a bigger hammer, you know the drill. Just be carefull and don't be a MudHippy.