U-joints AGAIN !
Thread Starter
|
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,318
Likes: 0
From: On A Ship, MI
U-joints AGAIN !
this is the second set of u joints i have put in my truck in the last 6 months.
i dont drive hard. nor do i drop the clutch and do burn outs.
And it will be the second mid ship bearing i have put in, in the same amount of time.
Does any one have any clue why i am burning though u joints so fast.
i grease them every time i do and oil change(about once a month, yes i do drive that much) but they keep burnin up.
so if you have any ideas or know of some one who has done a 1 pice drive shaft to a 96 2wd 3.0L 5speed let me know.
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 266
Likes: 0
From: Rocky Mountains
I know where you're coming from. I have a '95, XLT with the two piece drive shaft and a carrier bearing, and it's vibrated since day one. I recently pulled the driveshafts and took it to a machine shop and had new u-joints and a new carrier bearing installed. I carefully marked the u-joint at the differential flange, but failed to marked the spline connection point of the two driveshafts. When I reinstalled the driveshafts, it vibrated something fierce. When I realized my mistake, I kept the original orientation of the u-joint at the differential, but rotated the spline connection point of the two driveshafts 180º. This almost eliminated all the vibration, but come summertime, I'm going to pull the entire assembly again and have it balanced as a unit, and carefully have them mark the connection point. Yes, you can have the entire assembly balanced, but you must keep the spline connection orientation the same.. Also, it's important that driveshaft is aligned, so if you had any shims under the carrier bearing bracket, besure you replace them. Besure the shop that balances the driveshafts can do it as an entire unit. They can't be balanced separately. Here's wishing us both smooth running.
Tuned
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 266
Likes: 0
Second set in 6 mo's? I'm assuming you drove a long time, u-joints went out and were replaced and now u-joints are out again? If that's the case, I would bet the u-joints installed 6 mo's ago were either bad or installed poorly. My guess would be poor installation. If the caps get pressed on too tightly, it can cause premature failure. If the joints continue to fail prematurely, I would get a little concerned. Right now, I don't think you have a lot to worry about. Good dluck in the future-jim
