Fitting a U Joint

Changed the U Joint on the rear prop over the weekend.

It is possible on a standard Jimny rear prop!
I spent a couple of days looking at how other people recommend to carryout the job, youtube has several videos.

Came to Saturday and dropped the prop off, and set to hammering the caps through with a punch. This eventually moved the one side, but the prop side was solid.

Set to it on Sunday with a big vice, and the job was done in 2mins!

New joint in, and prop is back on… but the new joint hasn’t solved the vibration at lowish (under 2k) revs in 2nd, but i can live with it

Changing the uni joints can be a real pain. I replaced all 5 of them last year and put in greasable ones as I like to grease them after going through water crossings.

I decided to resurrect this topic instead of making a new one.

Two questions about universal joints:

1a.
Are Jimny's universal joints (all six of them if I am correct) designed to be replaced? I read somewhere that Suzuki sells only complete propshaft assemblies, but on the other hand, I see at Suzuki's parts database that genuine universal joints have their own part number (27200-83812), which is the same for all of them.

1b.
If they are not designed to be replaced, is the standard "vice force" procedure appropriate for the replacement job?

2.
When fitting replacement universal joints, is it better to used the sealed type (without grease nipple) or ones with grease nipples? The original universal joints don't have grease nipples.

3.
What are the dimensions of universal joints?

I did my rear one, used a blue print replacement with grease nipple.
Used the vice method of removal and replacement.
Couldn't get the retaining circlip in on one side of the bit that bolts to the dif.
Measured it with a vernier and found that it had squashed slightly during the replacement process :S
Done loads of these before on Vitara's, Hiluxes etc never had a problem with this method.
Maybe this is why Suzuki recommend replacing the entire shaft, cos the flangy bit on the end is made of crap metal and bends as soon as you put it under pressure.
Maybe if it were bolted to a substantial flange to give it some strength.
I'd be interested to hear others tales of woe and success.

My rear prop shaft's universal joint got worn, probably due to water/mud ingress and I had it replaced by a local mechanic.

He used the vice (and a bit of hammer) method.

Installed a replacement Blue Print ADK83901 universal joint. However, neither the previous nor that new joints have grease nipples. Because of that, I don't expect the current Blue Print joint to last long under wet conditions. I am trying to find a compatible universal joint with a grease nipple, which should (by my mechanic's opinion) last a lot longer if greased regularly if water and/or mud touches it. Is he correct?

Considering what a hardcore sex it is to replace it, I would definitely prefer to prolong the life of new joints which I install.


I suppose that I just have to look for correct dimensions? The dimensions of the original universal joint are 25 x 63,8 mm.

How many miles had the old one done? In my experience, the non-greasable joints on a Jimny last longer than the greasable ones on a Landrover so I wouldn't be overly concerned.