Having a problem with what i think might be my driveshaft. When i roll from a stop i get a loud clunking/knock sound. As i accelerate the sound goes away. Also i get this jingling sound when im up at highway speeds.Any ideas of what this might be?? Oh,i got under my truck to inspect my drive shaft & it has some play front to back as well as when i rotate it back and forth....

 

hey look, U joints! (you be correct)

 

Awsome, thanks! Id like to do the job myself. Got any more advise on how to change them out? Any special tool needed?

 

Pain in the *** to do correct

Most that have tried usually end up having a shop do them after wasting time and money DIYing them with Bad results.

If you do try the DIY rout don't buy the cheap U-joints buy the good spicer OEM U-joints

 

yep, best to have a shop do them.

I've done 1410's and they are not fun.

 

It looks deceivingly simple easy but its not

I strongly recommend a shop do them have them replace all the U-joints at the same time and get the shaft balanced if you have the two piece shaft get the Drive Shaft Center Support replaced also

 

come on guys u joints are real simple over the years I have done so many I cant count did 3 yesterday


first and foremost the most important mark shafts so they go back together the same exact way i use a paint pencil

take torch or cut off wheel and separate the u joint from the cup then put it on a anvil I use a 4" 1/2 bolt with a nut on it for my punch and a 3-5 pound hand sledge beat the cups out it usually works best to warm them a bit with the torch

once they all out now reassembly

I use a big vice take the joint and 1 cup press it in with the vice then very carefully do the other side when it is in far enough you can have the joint in both cups then press it in and put cup retainers in inner or outers

now seat the cups and retainers check for flex on joints if it feels good then proceed to the next but you will probably have to hit the outer ears a bit with a punch when it feels good with no binding you are good

things to watch out for

if a pin falls it will bind up before you are seated

handle the cups like it is nitro glycerine don't let any pins fall



its really not that bad once you have done a few

good luck it is really not that hard

 

I didn't think it would be a hard job either. I thought I had done everything right, marked the driveshaft very well, kept all the parts neat and organized, rented a ball joint/u-joint remover-installer tool and did the whole job by the book. When I put it all back together my truck had a horrible vibration at about 25 MPH. I re-indexed the driveshaft, no change. I looked at it, read online atricles and scratched my head a lot, swapped out what I thought were 2 joints with bent needle bearings, still no good. That only changed the vibration so it happened around 30 MPH. I had no idea what I had done wrong.

I hate to pay someone to fix things I can do myself but I had run out of time and ideas. I pulled my driveshaft out again and took it to a good local driveline shop about 35 miles away from here. They have been in business a long time, and the man looked at the yoke end and right away said the ujoints were too tight. I left it with them for a few days, they replaced the cheap u-joints I bought at a parts store with Spicers, gave me back the cheap ones and I got a refund on those.

After the shop did my driveshaft it still had just a very slight vibration around 40-42 MPH. I thought maybe a weight had come off it and took it back to the shop one Saturday and they checked it, said it was slightly bent and straightened it for me for free, even though it may have been my fault it was bent. I also had them replace the carrier bearing while it was out. I do not want to have to R&R that driveshaft again. I was very glad they had the carrier bearing in stock, and they only charged me $110.00 for the parts and labor to swap it out. They straightened the shaft and replaced the carrier bearing for me while I waited. Real good guys at Advance Driveline in Ocoee, Florida...

Bottom line is yes, it looks easy, yes it probably can be done as a DIY but I think it is best left up to a pro. Kind of like balancing tires or doing an alignment, some things just have to be done by a shop. Whether a shop does it or you DIY, be sure to only use Spicer u-joints. Spicer is the best and is also what Dodge uses at the factory. Well worth the extra few bucks..

Jimmy

 

I have done a few Chevy U-Joints in the past and they were easy if I remember correctly.

But I have seen a number of people on this forum try and DIY a Dakota U-Joint and had a very hard time getting them seated correctly and used cheap U-Joints that were a disaster a month later.

The biggest problem is DONT use cheap U-Joints they don't seem to fit correctly use only OEM spicer U-Joints

You can bend the cups easy for some reason if bent they will self destruct ASAP.

Having the proper tools is a must with U-Joints

These are the correct ones for my Dakota but each Dakota may be different so check for yourself.

But That picture is wrong I have the outside clips

http://www.mdsdriveshaft.com/ujoints/spicer_5-811X.htm

 

Thank you all for the advice. Looks like im gonna have a shop do, im just an amateur!! Thanks again