I have a question about u-joint replacement on my 2000 Camaro SS; a friend and I took a look at it last night, but is the u-joint compressed or bolted into place (or both)? It looks like it's bolted, but I don't have stands at my apartment and I wasn't sure. I want to do it myself and save a few bucks, but don't have the necessary equipment if it's compressed. Thanks.

P.S.: Any good brands for u-joints?

 

They are pressed in place and held by retainers. Should use a press, but can be taken apart with a large C clamp and some proper sized sockets to push the spider out. Be careful not to bend things.

 

Awesome, thank you very much.

 

A large bench vise, along with the proper size sockets, also works to press the bearing caps in/out. As Pete stated, be careful not to bend the yokes. After pressing the new bearing caps into place and installing the retainers, sometimes the yokes bend a slight amount and cause a binding of the needle bearings in the bearing caps. Assuming all of the needle bearings are in place, a moderate but sharp tap with a hammer on the side of the yokeabout half way between the bearing cap and the weld to the driveshaft itself should relieve the stress on the bearings. A smooth rotation of the u-joint should be your end result and ready for installing back into the car. Two more hints...
#1) Unless the other u-joint has been replaced recently, do them both so you don't have to go through this
again in a month or so because both u-joints may be the same age. Cheap insurance.
#2) Mark all the yokes before taking apart and re-install them in the same position. This way, assuming
the u-joints have not been replaced since factory installation, you shouldn't develop an
out-of-balance driveshaft assembly. And don't forget to grease them after installing the driveshaft.
The grease in the new u-joint is mainly to hold the needle bearings in place for installation.

Hope this info helps.
Mark

 

Turns out it wasn't a problem with the u-joints. I had mistakenly took the squeak as being from underneath the car because of being on the driver side. I had a friend stand on the other side and he heard it coming from the rear end of the driver's side. So now I've narrowed it down to possibly the brake caliper or something in the hub, because it only squeaks when I'm accelerating.