Ode to the driveline vibrations: Replaced Universal Joints

[DieselWarrior]

Serious, jaw ratching, glovebox door rattling driveline vibrations has plagued me since I bought this thing.

It MUST be a bad omen to buy a truck, that comes with spare parts. However this time I was lucky, some Duralast Gold premium Us came with it, and were a perfect fit!

Now I only have VERY MINOR vibrations at certain speeds, this I believe can be corrected by adjusting the axle pitch to correct driveline angles.

The black powder is what used to be, needle bearings. Two of the cups had none left, just residue. Chunks of the U are missing, one cup is amazing how it stayed in.

Truck rides 1,000% better now.

I was broke, again, so I used a hammer (5lb mini sledge) and some sockets, was not near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Id guess the Us were R&R with full shaft in and out in 30 minutes.

A bonus: My 13 year old daughter helped me out, she even knocked out the yoke side joint, and installed the new U! I only had to give minimal advice. That was a sweet moment I will cherish forever!

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[tRustyK5]

I had my '90 I just started driving again chuck a U-joint cap at 65 mph today.

I pretty much knew what I was gonna see when i got it stopped...was just praying the rest would stay together until i could get stopped. The whole driveshaft was off center at the yoke. I was only a mile and a half from my buddy's house so my youngest daughter and I slowly limped it there at ~10 mph with the hazards on.

I had issues trying to get the internal snap ring to seat in the groove when I installed this U-joint. It seems my yoke is slightly on the tight side. Got it swapped at my buddy's place and used a C-clamp to suck the caps as tight as possible, then used a flat blade screwdriver and a small hammer to ensure the second snap ring was seated in the groove all the way this time.

I'm really considering tack welding the caps just for peace of mind now.

Rene