I thought the old saying was things happen in threes? Well last weekend i went to fluid film my rockers on my truck before winter and salt ever show up. I was having a bang when i hit bunps so i went to check the front end and do my greasing of the ball joints tie rod ends and u joints and what do you know, the greaseable napa axle ujoints are bad. And i mean like needle bearing missing bad! So napa wont give me mew ones unless i bring the old ones in at the same time. This is CRAZY to me since I only have one vehicle and cant walk the eight miles to napa and then back again. So i was forced to buy a set and then the manager said i can return the bad ones and get reimbursed. So after that i get back home and go to start ripping the front end apart. Start on the drivers side pull the lockout and wheel bearing and i go to pry the axle shaft out and my TWO YEAR OUT AXLE SEAL COMES APART!!!! WTF is this about so im like F it and go to do the ujoint and while i was fiddling around i thought lets check the ball joints. And what do you know they have play up and down about a 1/16" to 1/8"! So thats it i had enough put it back together and go looking for my receipt for the Moog Ball joints and luckily the place in town will give me new ones even though im out of warranty when i thought Moog was lifetime? So i have to wait till Monday for the ball joints GREAT and i go to lock the truck and my dam keyfob wont work! I gi to push the lock button on my door keypad and thats dead also(smash head i to wall) i go buy a brand new battery for the keyfob and it still wont work, i do the procedure to add a new fob and it doesnt work. I go get the old keyfob that doesnt work! I add the new battery to the old keyfob and do the procedure on that one and IT STILL DOESNT WORK What the heck could of happened to the keyless system? Then im sitting on the ground reading the manual and i look up through the fender and i see light? Open the hood and the hood light is on which is normal so i close the hood and look up again and the dam light is on! So i open the hood remove the light and the what i assume is a slid switch is stuck to the on position! Who knows how long this has been and luckily it jasnt killed my Optima battery at night or the weekends so now ill add that to the list of wtf is going on with my truck today. So after the light issue i just closed the truck up and walked inside, i dont want to drive it go het something out of it NOTHING. terrified of what is gonna happen next....

 

Murphy .. trumps all others.... even the beloved Threes ....


Hope things go better... and yes.. must have OLD part in hand for replacement ...
except for when the Manager said otherwise.


helps to know the Auto Parts Store Boss.....

 

I would be afraid of checking anything else on your truck until your luck started getting better lol.

 

I figured when i did the ball joints and ujoints id be set for life going greaseable, i use Mobil1 full synthetic heavy duty grease and well that didnt help. I try to drive around bumps, i go turtle slow over railroad tracks and speed bumps and that didn't help either. Guess ill change um and just "drive" and five years from now when they go again ill just change them for the third time

 

Sucks man. I think my hood lamp is getting squirrelly too as my truck now sits a lot and would be dead every time I tried starting.

Hopefully you'll get it all fixed and running good again. Very frustrating but at least it is all fixable stuff and you're not chasing something you cannot figure out. Besides the fobs.

 

no such thing as "Life-Time".. its just a matter of time..
FYI... many front end parts has nylon/Teflon parts inside them.

and Yes they Can make life time parts.. No money in it.

 

Ujoints were replaced under warranty and my moog ball joints were also replaced under warranty so im just gonna have time in doing this tomorrow. Im ditching the dust seals since i replaced them four times and all they do is rip. I never had issues with my mud trucks from the 80's and 90's ford f350 i use to own and i burried them ever weekend and never blew a seaL

 

My brother is going to motorcraft ball joints in the future..I only use spicer life ujoints they have a 3 lip seal..They are better than oem. non greaseable.
Now I don't want to look at my front end lol.

 

Spicer for the U-joints next time. Local drive shaft shop recommended the non-greasable versions over the greasable as well. Should get around 80k from them. What brand seals are you using? Sucks to hear about the ball joints that is what I am putting in. For the large axle seal did you use the OTC, Lisle or homemade tool?

 

I would have to see it with my own eyes to believe a non-greasable u-joint could outlast a greaseable one. But seeing how I could never make myself replace one with anything other than a greaseable unit, it seems unlikely to happen.

 

Both a Dana/Spicer product. The key is to grease every 3k otherwise set and forget.

 

Set and forget hasn't been as effective ime as grease whenever you can.

 

In reality the biggest factor in a u-joints life is whether it's installed properly and adjusted(tapping the U or the ears with a brass punch) for freedom/balance or just squeezed in and go 'it'll work itself loose'. I never install a 'tight' u-joint.

 

I have never installed a U-joint. I took mine to the shop and had them do so for the $40 it was. The shop I went to does only drive shafts, so they should know best.

 

I have replaced hundreds of u-joints on AG equipment and this is common knowledge, not so true in the truck world..... The ball joints are greatly affected by how they are installed as well.