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U joint play

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Old Apr 29, 2018 | 06:35 PM
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U joint play

Long story short. Was told U joint on passenger side was really bad because they could move it with a pry bar. My complaint was more force needed to turn the steering wheel.

Turns out the shop was right and wrong, I replace the u - joint on the passenger axle. It needed it. It was frozen and would not spin.

SO now the truck drives normally, but I still have the play in the u joint. The pkay is not in the joint itself, the whole joint goes up and down an inch. On the drivers side it goes up and down but not muchj
 
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Old Apr 29, 2018 | 07:03 PM
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define play in the ujoint? like the entire axle moves? the passenger side is quite a bit longer than the drivers side
 
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Old Apr 29, 2018 | 07:19 PM
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Joint is tight. The axle moves up and down an inch
 
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Old Apr 29, 2018 | 10:10 PM
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I could definitely be wrong, but that might just be a function of the length of the axle shaft. Have you pulled the cover and then move the axle to see if something inside the carrier is wonky??
 
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Old Apr 29, 2018 | 10:47 PM
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That’s what I was think too. Everything in the carrier is right. I think it’s normal but it is what the tech at the shop showed meant the u joint was bad. He was right, but the u joint wasn’t loose like all the videos I watch. It was frozen and would not turn without a lot of force. So I fixed the problem with the wrong diagnosis which ended up being the right diagnosis but the wrong reason.

Make sense?
 
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Old Apr 30, 2018 | 08:58 AM
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That much play indicates a bad internal (main) bearing in your unit bearing assembly. Don't confuse it with the needle bearings that ride on your axle shaft. Did you change the unit bearing assembly? I know you did a bunch of work on it this week, but can't remember if you did that.
 
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Old Apr 30, 2018 | 09:38 AM
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Define main bearing. I replaced the ball joints, u joints, seal, wheel bearing and brake caliper. Basically everything on the wheel carrier is new and tight.

If there is something loose would be in the differntil seal? Is that a thing?
 
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Old Apr 30, 2018 | 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by gmammakn
Define main bearing. I replaced the ball joints, u joints, seal, wheel bearing and brake caliper. Basically everything on the wheel carrier is new and tight.

If there is something loose would be in the differntil seal? Is that a thing?

can you take a video?

he means the bearing in the hub bearing you replaced I believe
 
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Old Apr 30, 2018 | 12:01 PM
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There is nothing on the differential side of things that would cause all that play. There is a seal, but it does nothing to stabilize the driveshaft...it just keeps oil in the pumpkin where it belongs. The teeth on the end of the driveshaft just stab into the carrier gears, and they can move quite a bit if the wheel bearing side of things is not tight and to tolerances.

Take the 4x4 hub off/out, and then watch the end of the driveshaft while you wiggle the u-joint up and down. Compare that to how much movement there is right now. There should be almost no movement up and down and side to side with the 4x4 hub installed.
 
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Old May 1, 2018 | 07:05 AM
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Looking at your other thread about all the work you have done and in post #33 that stub shaft looks either seriously damaged or you have something covering the shaft to make it look so, do you have a better, closer picture of that stub shaft to maybe help diagnose this issue?
 
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Old May 1, 2018 | 10:04 AM
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Yeah, whoever removed the u joint scrached the bearing surface - ******* (OK it was me). I filed it doen and polished it and I could not fell it. I was not sure of was going to affect the seal or not and I wan not sure how that seal rotated in the wheel carrier until I put it back together.

I will get some pics/videos tonight.

I drove the car to work and I fixed the brakes and the tough steering. Really don't want to do the other side since htere are no symptoms. And I'm and idiot. But I figure I should do both sides if possible.
 
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