Hey everyone

I replaced the drivers side front U- joint in my truck just before christmas... as in Dec23.

Today I was on my way home from school, in 4wd goin about 50, and I heard a big clunk, so I took it out of 4wd because it felt like it was beneath my feet. I got up to about 70km/hr, and I could hear a repetitive creaking noise. Got to the next smallest town and stopped at a garage to have a look, and sure enough one of my U joint caps is completely gone.... again!

This is the same thing that happened back in Dec. My question is, why has this happened twice in a row? I was pretty sure I cleaned the mounting surfaces of the clips well, and had them " clipped " in place.

Anything else I should look for?

 

did you use a press to get the old joints out.. or did you use the vice and socket method. if you used that method theres a chance you could of bent the end of the axle yoke wich could put more stress on the joint. Also what brand did you replace it with? Spicer makes an upgraded joint the 5-760x thats stronger then the stocker.

 

I was going to ask if you made sure the retainer clip was fully locked in place and if the slot was cleaned out well, but you claim you already did, so I don't know what else to say.

The Spicer joint is definitely a very worth while upgrade as it will last way longer than the parts store cheepies (even if you can keep the caps from falling out ).

Good luck.

 

I got a greasable precision one, and when I took the old joint out I removed the clips and the hammered the u- joint ( which pretty much pressed the caps out)

 

you could have bent the yoke hammering. those axle joints aren't as big as the driveshaft u joints that I've heard that method being used on.

A greaseable joint is weaker than a permanently lubed joint as some of the material must be removed for the port, though it doesn't sound like it broke along the zerk bung.

Precision is crap too BTW, but I guess you've figured that out.

 

crap, as in ONE month of durability?!?!

I noticed my brake on that wheel isn't as free as the rest... possibly a semi- seized piston- would this cause stress on that joint?

EDIT- I'm thinking if that wheel has the tendency to slow down while the others go at the same speed... maybe this would harm the joint when I put it in 4wd??

 

I dont think so at all. Think of how much stress is on a u-joint when your bashing through gears and spinning tires on rough terrain... a little drag from a brake shouldnt harm anything.

It sure wouldnt constitute a reason for the cap to fall off, which sounds like your what your problem is... not necessarily stress.

 

Just throwing this out there. When you last did your u-joint did you make sure to "seat" the cups? If you didn't, then maybe the clip fell out and the cup pushed out. Just a thought!

 

No, I was sure to seat them all, and have the clips in place.

I guess I'll just try a different brand of U- joint and see what happens.

 

i run presision in my truck and have never had a problem