1974 260Z Axel U-Joints - How to replace?

Hi everyone,

I purchased some new axle U-joints for my 1974 260Z and my question is, how is the axle supposed to be removed from the 3rd member?

The outer side is pretty straightforward, just unbolt the 4 bolts and nuts holding the axle to the wheel hub assembly.




It's the inner U-joint that looks a little more complicated. It looks like you would unbolt the 4 bolts holding a flange onto the 3rd member to remove the inner portion of the axle so you can replace the inner U-joint.

However if you do this gear oil will come out and it seems there might be some gear alignment issues to deal with?



The outer U-joint is pretty sloppy and starting to make a clunking noise when going around corners, the inner doesn't appear to have much slop but I want to replace all 4 at the same time. (Driver's side and Passenger's side)

Anyone ever do this repair before care to shed some light on how to remove the axle shafts?

Thanks,

Mike

 

The removal process is detailed in the Haynes manual. If you don't have one, I suggest buying one asap. There are 2 ways to remove the inner connection...

#1... remove those 4 bolts and pop it out w/ some leverage.

#2... remove the inside nut & the half shaft will slide right out.

A lil bit of gear oil may come out, but not much. And the "gears" are bolted in place inside the diff... so there won't be any "alignment" issues.

 

LOL

What? Actually buy a manual for a car I own and read it?

Surely you jest!

All kidding aside, that's a good idea, we'll check with the local Autozone as they have a pretty good supply.

Thanks for the answer, I'll probably opt for unbolting the 4 bolts to the third member and taking the entire axle unit out on both sides to rebuild them. Then re-assemble and re-fill the rear-end with gear oil.

Have to do all brakes at the same time. I'll take a few pictures of the process and do a little write-up for the forum for anyone going down this road in the future.

 

You need a good bench vise, a hammer, and a screwdriver.