Menu

Car Maintenance You Shouldn't Try at Home


About Me

Car Maintenance You Shouldn't Try at Home

In a troubled economy, many people look for ways to cut costs by doing household tasks themselves. Some automotive jobs can be done fairly easily at home, particularly if you know something about cars. However, taking on the wrong job on your own will only cost you more time, stress and money in the long run. My name is Jill, and I want to tell you about which car maintenance tasks you can safely tackle on your own and which really do require some help from a pro. I'll break down the needs of a typical car and tell you exactly why you might need to ask for help sometimes.

Emergency Roadside Repair Guide: Replacing A Drive Shaft Hanger Bearing On A Semi Truck

You're driving down the open highway when all of a sudden the steering wheel starts to shake and the truck begins to stutter. You get out and look under the truck and see smoke rising from the drive shaft hanger bearing along the truck's drive train. You can risk driving the truck and having other problems develop, or you can call for emergency roadside assistance. Here is how an emergency roadside assistance mechanic can replace the hanger bearing to get you back on your way down the highway.

Step One: Remove Front Drive Shaft

The drive shaft hanger bearing is located on the middle of the drive train where the u-joint connects together. The u-joint holds the two drive shafts together on the drive train. One shaft is connected from the transmission to the u-joint, and the other drive shaft connects from the u-joint to the differential on the back axle.

The roadside mechanic will place a jack under the drive shaft going to the transmission to hold it up. The mechanic will unbolt the drive shaft from the transmission and rest it on the jack so it doesn't hang down and cause the shaft to bend.

The next step is to remove the two bolts holding the drive shaft hanger bearing directly onto the underbelly of the frame of the truck.

The mechanic will then take the u-joint apart to free the front drive shaft and the shaft hanger from the back drive shaft. The u-joint is held together by a cross pin that sits inside two harnesses called spindle yokes. The cross pin has caps on the each end of pin that keeps the pin inside the yokes. These caps are removed so the pins can slide in and out of the holes on the yokes so the u-joint can be separated.

Step Two: Remove Hanger Bearing

The mechanic will take the drive shaft and hanger bearing to the work truck so the hanger bearing can be taken off the shaft. The yoke has to be taken off of the end of drive shaft before the hanger bearing can be removed. This is done by removing the nut and washer connecting the yoke to the end of the drive shaft.

There is a rubber gasket inside the bearing that helps to hold the hanger bearing onto the drive shaft. The mechanic will cut this rubber gasket and pull it out. The hanger bearing should slide off the drive shaft at this point with a couple of hard bangs with a heavy hammer.

Step Three: Install New Hanger Bearing

The new hanger bearing is greased and slid onto the end of the drive shaft. The yoke is then reattached onto the end. The mechanic will then set the drive shaft back into position under the truck using a jack and bolt everything back together in the reverse order in which the shaft was taken apart. Contact a professional for more information on mobile truck repair.