Removing the driveshaft was nothing, removing the u-joint caps from the drive shaft was a bitch!

Removing the rearmost u-joint:

1. Unbolt the clamps (i guess you could call them that) on the rearmost u-joint.
2. Swing it to the side and pull it out from the transfer case. Some fluid might spill from the case.
3. Now you have to remove the clips and hammer the caps out of the shaft (uh huh huh huh, he said shaft) You need a piece of bar or a heavy duty socket or something to stick in the hole to prevent you from beating the sh*t out of the drive shaft.
4. Once you have it pushed though you need to finangle the damn thing to get the caps off and to wiggle it out from the holes. It took some patience on my truck but it wasn't too bad.
5. Install reverse of how it came apart basically.

Note: I had to use the caps from the old u-joint to hammer back into the holes as the new ones would require too much hammering to get them in. The u-joint I bought has a zerk fitting and I think that might have something to do with why the fit was so tight. The caps for the one with the zerk were slightly different from the ones without but the clips and other dimentions were the same. The other two caps fit in the clamps perfectly when I reinstalled the drive shaft.

 

Not to hard. Just takes a little muscle. I just replaced all of them since i was going to remove the shaft from the rear.Jcbst12 describes it pretty well. The bearings in my u-joint were completely gone, but no vibration just a loud noise. You might want to check all ofyour mounts. Try to get some wd-40 in there like the day before to losen up those bolts easier.

 

progress !

The middle of the 3 universal joints was the only u-joint that showed perceivable wear/movement. On inspection, 3 of its 4 cup bearings looked excellent. There were no needle bearings left in the 4th cup. On the rear u-joint, 2 cups seat in the rear yoke. In these, there was a groove near the cup lips. The grooves appeared to be meant for c-clips that would 1) hold the cross in the center of the rear yoke and 2) act as cup retainers during high rpm. Despite their absence, there did not seem to have been any movement of the cups or cross towards off-center, and it took a bit of force to dislodge those cups once the 2-bolt clamps were removed.

Replacing the middle u-joint and adding the two c-clips got rid of 95% of the vibration. There is still a bit of vibration that occurs between 40mph and 50mph. This is noticeable only in the steering wheel.

The ball joints and tie rods show very little wear. There might or might not be a bit of play in the driver side front wheel bearing.

 

Thats cool im going to cange mine soonstarting to feel something.

 

better early than late. without any bearings in that one cup, i'm sure the heat was cycling up and down on that lobe, not to mention major mechanical stresses. i doubt it was a safe condtion. i'm glad i caught it in time and that it also resolved most of the vibration. post back on your results. i'd be interested to know if your rear u-joint is missing the 2 c-clips too.

 

Ill let you know but it might be awhile im working at least 84 hours a week last week I got 104 hrs. But the more hrs I work the faster I will get this job done and get back south.

 

After you get the U-Joints situated, get the front tires balanced. Have the guy calibrate the balancer and set it up appropriately. (Look at the diagrams on the machine for the wheel type). Then have him balance them, they should get close. Id not, try rotating then fronts to the rear or have them break down the tire, rotate it 180 degreese, remount and rebalance it.

 

more progress, kind of ....

In the very beginning, I had the tires balanced, rebalanced, rotated, derotated, ... It would change the vibrations somewhat, but did not reduce them.

The u-joint work described above resolved 90% of the vibrations.

The remaining 10% occurs between 40-50 mph window. The same vibrations occur regardless of: 1) clutch in/out, 2) foot on/off the gas, 3) gear. The vibrations are mostly felt in the steering wheel. If I lay my head back on the head rest, then I can feel vibrations in my head, plus my visual field shakes quite noticeably.

To address the 10%, yesterday I had the tires dismounted, then remounted. Front tires went on the rear rims and rear tires on the front rims. They stayed on the same sides. After the swap, when they were balancing the tires, one rear tire was fair wobbly. The other rear had a small amount, and the two fronts were excellent.

The mechanic said the rim was bent. The rims are the OEM steel/chrome rims that came with the truck, which I bought new. I have no idea how the rim became bent. The tires have 8 months and 8k miles on them. The vibrations started about two months go.

The 10% vibration is still there unchanged. I am thinking about getting the one rim straightened, but it is fairly expensive at $70. Any suggestions?

Before that, I may swap it out with the full-size spare tire to see if that helps.

 

I they are stock rims it might be cheaper to get one from a junk yard. Im glad to hear you fond out what the problem is. You would think they would notice the rim being bent when they balanced them.

 

Keep you eyes peeled for a new one or used one on craigslist and ebay. Don't pay to have it straightened, not worth it. I'd use that as a last resort. Put the bent wheel on the rear for now. You won't feel it as much.