Ok i have searched all over and have come to this conclusion when changing U-Joints in these cars; If you don't have a press or a vice and a back up vehicle, you have to take the car to a shop to have them changed. Is this reasonibly correct? I am a college student who is broke most of the time so i can't buy the tools and the damn things are getting kinda sloppy.

 

Nope...they can be changed (rather crudely) using a hammer and a couple of large sockets, or if you have a large enough vise it can be used in lieu of said hammer.
And you'll need a torch to remove that material (I forget what it is offhand) GM originally used to hold the joints in place.

Pete

 

you can also rent a ball joint press from auto zone and use that for u joints.

 

Hmm, so ya its a shop for it then. I lack a torch and don't really feel like beating on it with a hammer or trying a ball joint tool seeing as i only have this one car and can't afford to have it down for long just sitting in the garage. Thanks for the info though and if anybody else has info on it go ahead and post it.

 

Sure, take it to a shop and watch them beat on it with a hammer. We have a press at work, but most techs there don't like trying to balance a 6ft driveshaft out of a Suburban while operating the press, so they just use sockets and a hammer. You don't need a torch either, you can shear the nylon injected caps during removal.

 

Hmm in that case i may just try it. Still gonna atleast call around on a shop though, see if it needs to be balanced and how much that would run while its out. thanks for the info.