U-Joint Rubber Boot Replacement '82 XJ1100J

[maxim4rob]

Well it's time to replace the original rubber boot that covers the u-joint between the middle drive and the final drive on my '82 XJ1100J. According to the manual I'll need to pull everything off the bike (shocks, rear tire, rear brake assembly, final drive, etc.) including the swing arm. It also indicates using a special gear puller to remove the drive shaft. I seem to remember a post a few months ago stating that you can disconnect the u-joint and slide it back far enough to remove the old boot and manuver the new boot in place between the middle drive and the u-joint. I understand the drive shaft can be tricky to get re-alligned and don't want tear into it that far if not necessary. I've searched the tech tips section and couldn't find anything. Anybody have any experience with this? Thanks for the help.

Maxim4rob
'82 XJ1100J

[mitch]

Your lucky day

We just put another middle drive in my cousins midnight , just unbolted the drive shaft and pulled it out ,I would suggest you could do this to change the boot. We didnt have to remove the swingarm etc HTH....MITCH

[TopCatGr58]

A different approach!?

Hey there Rob,

When I replaced mine, I had pulled the engine out for a topend rebuild, but if you're very worried about the driveshaft, then you could loosen the exhaust header nuts, loosen/remove some of the engine mounts, so that you could jack up the rear of the engine to create a bit more room between the U-joint and shaft once you've unbolted it to get the boot thru, but that seems like a lot of work also.

T.C.

[mitch]

Didnt say it right

I meant remove the middle drive only 7 bolts plus the u joint. Ya gotta take the chrome cover off as one of the bolts go all the way in . HTH.....MITCH