went to carquest and he measured my u-joints.the stock one for my shaft side,and the spare joint i had that fit correctly to the f1st gen sterling (up to '92) and came up with:
carquest part# 2-3050
for a perfect fit.

i still feel foolish i didn't notice the stock u-joint was too small for the 1st gen yoke the first time.what i have now clearly fits perfect.
it got so bad yesterday (whats it been now a week or two since install?) that it's a wonder she didn't drop the shaft lol! wasn't a needle bearing to be found on either yoke side cap.didn't hurt my new u-joint straps at all,so that was good.