U joints

[Chad Merry]

Has anyone had to change their rear U joint yet? Every once in a while I get this loud metal to metal bang when I put my ST in reverse.



The last time I went offraoding I broke a leaf spring and my whole rearend twisted. So I am not sure if maybe I damaged my U joint when the driveshaft fell out



Also looking for recomendation for where to buy them (NAPA, Carquest, or another manufacturer)



Thanks,

Chad

 

[Todd Z]

could be any thing in the drive train, or rearend....

Todd Z

 

[Chad Merry]

Todd,

That is NOT what I want to hear..



I had thought about pulling the rear diff cover and checking the Powertrax locker.

 

[Todd Z]

It could just be pinion slip, or normal wear....



I would jack up the rear of the truck with the tranny in park, and move the drive shaft, move tires to see where the main slop is...



Todd Z

 

[Yardsale]

I didn't have to change it, but it was changed as part of the drive line service (balance, etc), however, I did have to change the u-joints on my 4-Runner. There were two sounds indicating trouble - one was a "clunk" from the slip yoke being a bit worn, and the other was a squeaking sound from the front u-joint (so dry in there, there was rust dust (not my best preventative maintenance moment)).

 

[Dreman]

One of my first cars was a 1971 Ford Galaxie that I dropped a 428CJ into. It was something like the irresistable force meeting the immoveable object, with the u-joints in between! It went through u-joints in about 2 weeks! I got to know that squeak-squeak-squeak sound very well until I finally found some Lakewood racing u-joints that lasted almost a year!



P.S. When I got the headers for that car, I was walking back to the garage when I saw my aunt's VW Rabbit sitting there with it's little tailpipe sticking out. Just for grins I stuck one of the header pipes for one cylinder over the tailpipe on that Rabbit, and still had room to wiggle around!