Any of you change your rear drive shaft ujoints? Did you use aftermarket or Ford? If you used aftermarket, where'd you get em? Not sure if I trust the ones from Carquest for 14 bucks a piece...

 

Come on Boys....I know you've got opinions....

 

I prefer genuine Ford or TRW U-joints although other brand name ones are good too. I have seen problems with the really cheap joints. If you grease your truck regularly then greaseable joints are ok. If you're like most people and dont grease it lots then I would get sealed joints like the original equipment Ford ones.

 

I agree with Racerguy.....but dont go back with Ford unless you are willing to shell out alot of money! My local Ford dealer wants $26.00 a piece for them.....and thats after giving me a $8.00 price cut!

 

Have the guy pull them and find the country of origin on the packaging. If they were made here chances are they are ok. Avoid the product of third world nations as quality control and metallurgy are suspect.

 

Why are you wanting to replace your u-joints? Having problems with them?

 

well my truck is sitting in the garage right now. waiting on a ride to the parts house in the morning. I replaced the lower with and extra a friend had that was ford stock eqiupment. so sunday i decied well i better to the upper also. this is were i am not sure what went wrong. Using the old socket and hammer trick they were a pain to get out. Went and got a new no name brand and on the yoke fit fine. on the shaft however i could not get the retention clip to seat on one side. take it off the other side and then the problem side would work. So what do I do is beat it into submission. 1st trip down the street noise. took it back apart tonight and noticed one of the caps was cracked. I looks like the side was slightly longer, best i can tell by looking at it. If iI had some calipers i would check the differance. So in the morning I will slide in a ford one and see how it goes.

 

Well bad news, looks like i bent the alum part of the shaft ( upper Side ) The u-joint was hard to get in to the point were the snap rings could be but in place. Right off was making a chattering noise. Been a long time since i have done this type of repair and never on alum. guys a the driveshaft shop said ya heard that before need a new one. So having one built, all steel i might add. Any thoughts on precautions to take with the alum driveshafts, next go around?

 

Yes, get one of these:
http://www.stu-offroad.com/misc/hfreight-1.htm
and make sure you put the caps on properly. When you forced on the cap, one of the roller pins probably got misaligned and caused all of your problems.

BTW.....Spicer gets all of my u-joint business.

 

Thank Jeramy I will keep that in mind next go around. The new steel shaft I had build went right in and the ujoints they use look impressive. With a 140K on this truck that will prob be the last time for it.