im putting a lift in my truck and i need a new u joint for my front axle. can i just slide it out of the transfer case or do i have to do it while its on my truck. im asking this because on the lift instructions it says not to take it out or damage may occur to the transfer case due to improper reinstallation. wouldnt it just slide back in and be good?

 

the front driveshaft is held on with straps and it won't slide out like the rear one does. the straps are real easy to take off. now if your talking about teh driveaxle it will slide out and that's the only way you can take it out just be careful.

 

so it just slides out of the transfer case? Why would the instructions for the lift tell me it would do damage?

 

The front drive shaft does not slide out of the case, if you separate the slip yolk and do not have it aligned right during reassembly it can and will cause problems. There are straps or u-bolts holding the front driveline to the transfer case. These just unbolt and you can remove it. The instructions usually refer to separating the slip yolk.

 

Rewrite your question.

Are you asking about the front axle or the front drive shaft?
You mention them both.

 

i wanna replace the front u joint in the front driveshaft. sorry if i wasnt clear i was in a rush when i wrote this thread

 

There are u-joint straps that hold your u-joint to the yoke on the transfercase and some that hold the u-joint to the yoke on the axle. Mine took a 1/2" wrench to get them off. Crawl under the truck and check it out. It is REALLY obvious how to take the front driveshaft out once you start looking at it.

 

I agree with ^

Both ends of my front drive shaft have small u-bolts holding the caps in place.

Be careful so the caps do not fall off, because the needle bearing will fall out.

FYI - My 1987 F-150 requires two different u joints for the front drive shaft.
They look the same, but have different part numbers.