Australian 4WD Action - June 2018

Everything is designed to come apart a certain way, and

you shouldn’t resort to force as your fi rst option for pulling

something apart. Nine times out of ten if a part won’t come

off it’s because there’s a circlip or similar holding it on, that’s

hidden behind those years of grease. That’s where a workshop

manual comes into the picture, because it’ll tell you exactly

how the part is supposed to be disassembled. Of course rust

and grime along with physical damage can prevent a part from

coming out, and in those cases heat or force may be required.

When you’re pulling something apart, hit it hard with WD40 or

degreaser and give it a scrape with a fl athead screwdriver to

reveal exactly how it come apart before you bring out the Big

Effi n Hammer or the oxy torch

If you’re setting up a bit of a workshop in your garage or

shed, then make a big fat vice one of your fi rst purchases!

Get the heaviest, fattest one you can afford and bolt it down

to a sturdy workbench that’s ideally bolted to the fl oor. The

number of times you’ll use a proper vice in any type of repair

or upgrade makes it one of the hardest-working bits of gear

you’ll ever buy. Sure a welder’s fun to use and a drill press will

make specifi c jobs better too, but you’ll use neither anywhere

close to as much as you would a proper bench vice. The ones

with the replaceable jaws are a great idea as you can swap

out mild steel jaws suitable for heavy clamping jobs with

aluminium or brass jaws for softer jobs where you don’t want

to leave clamp marks on whatever you’re holding

Cleanliness is next to godliness, or so they say,

right? Any good mechanic will tell you that the

quality of a fi nished job comes down to how well

you clean everything while it’s apart. When you’ve

got hard parts on the work bench and they’re easy

to access, take the time to clean them properly

and inspect them before you even start throwing

new parts near them. In this case we’re thoroughly

cleaning and inspecting this driveshaft before it

cops a set of new uni joints. A stiff wire brush and

some good quality degreaser will get those years

of baked-on grease and dirt off the whole thing and

let you closely inspect for any damage. Because

uni joints run at such high RPM, they need to be

installed in perfect alignment and if, for example, the

yokes are slightly bent you’ll never get it to line up

perfectly. Clean and inspect everything!

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