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Visual inspection, no slop/play when turning them by hand. Yes, I can replace them to remove a variable, but holding off on simply throwing parts at it without proper diagnosis.
yeah a lot of the time they’ll be dry and still feel good just turning by hand. Pull the driveshaft and pull the caps off the open ends of the u joints. Easy and quick way to see if they’re dry.
Does yours have a carrier bearing? That could be going bad as well.
I had a vibration that I chased for quite a while, and I accidentally fixed it when i upgraded to a manual transfer case. The original transfer case had a bearing going bad that caused the vibration.
@Freedom-over-safety Thanks for the pointers. Will surely look into these. I don't have a carrier bearing, so that is one less variable.
Yeah i haven’t figured out why some have a carrier bearing and some don’t. They’re all the same wheelbase so it doesn’t make sense.
Good luck, post up what you find.
In the process of diagnosing and fixing the issue, a number of things were replaced. Almost every moving part in the front end is now new. I know that some of will have to be categorized as "throwing parts ($$$) at the problem". I opted to do that since most of the front end was disassembled to diagnose the vibration problem and the hope that I do not have to be doing these fixes somewhere on the road.
All new Spicer U-Joints for knuckles (1 of them had damage)
All new Spicer U-Joints for front & rear driveshafts replaced as preventive maintenance
All 4 ball joints replaced with Mevotech. Passenger upper ball joint had too much play. Rest were replaced as preventive maintenance
All new Mevotech tie rod assemblies - left/right, inner/outer - replaced as preventive maintenance
New Warn Hubs. Driver side hub was broken.
New dual steering stabilizer setup from Rough Country replacing the same part. Replaced as preventive maintenance
In the process of diagnosing and fixing the issue, a number of things were replaced. Almost every moving part in the front end is now new. I know that some of will have to be categorized as "throwing parts ($$$) at the problem". I opted to do that since most of the front end was disassembled to diagnose the vibration problem and the hope that I do not have to be doing these fixes somewhere on the road.
All new Spicer U-Joints for knuckles (1 of them had damage)
All new Spicer U-Joints for front & rear driveshafts replaced as preventive maintenance
All 4 ball joints replaced with Mevotech. Passenger upper ball joint had too much play. Rest were replaced as preventive maintenance
All new Mevotech tie rod assemblies - left/right, inner/outer - replaced as preventive maintenance
New Warn Hubs. Driver side hub was broken.
New dual steering stabilizer setup from Rough Country replacing the same part. Replaced as preventive maintenance
i’d say it was smart replacing all that since you were already in there and the truck is 20+ years old. Might as well set a good baseline with new parts so you can depend on it. I bet it was those rear u joints causing it.
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