Does anyone else have problems with the passenger side front axle u-joint quickly wearing out? I've owned my 1996 1500 for the past 10 years, and in that time I've never had to replace any other u-joints anywhere except this one. This will be the 6th time. Also, when the joint breaks or wears out, it's always on the stub axle side, never the axle shaft side. The axle side always comes apart easily, but the stub is a bear to get out. This time, the roller bearings and caps rust-welded themselves together to the joint body, so when the steering is turned and wheel is rotated, you can see the joint cap rotate back and forth in the stub's yoke, squeaking like hell.
Guess my question is, is this a RAM trait, a stub problem, or do I need to adjust the stops on the knuckles as I wonder if it's overextending the joints usable range on sharp turns? I hope that makes sense. Going to replace the stub, but would like some insight cause I'm getting tired of replacing this thing, especially since the rest have 218k+ on them.

 

I replaced mine earlier this summer since they started clicking. What u-joints do you buy, Non-serviceables? When I bought u-joints for my driveshaft a while back, the grease already in the thing was hard and worthless from sitting on the parts shelf. I had to take the caps off and pump grease into it to push the hard junk out. I turn sharp when needed and I do it quite often. No problems from that for mine.

How many miles did you get between each of these u-joints you had installed?

 

you could try getting spicer u joints that have the grease fittings on both sides and after you get them in place give the yoke a couple of light smacks with a hammer to make sure they're seated correctly. if you run through water a lot then that would explain the u joint failure. water in the u joints is bad. splashes are fine but being submerged often enough will work the grease out of the caps.

 

Sounds like you have an out-of-square stub shaft. If that side is always hard to disassemble I'd try replacing it as the mounting ears might be slightly bent or out of alignment. This would also cause premature wear of the u-joint.

 

Thanks everyone! Kind of leaning towards the bad stub. Seems to be the only thing that makes sense. The joint usually lasts anywhere from 14k being the worst to 30k lasting the longest. No submerging in water, but have some long, nasty winters full of snow, ice, salt, and that beet juice road de-icer. Have tried both the greasable and sealed joints with no apparent difference. Dealer did the first, local shop did the second, and I did the last three myself.

Did finally get a stub today, even though I had to pull it myself. Guy at the yard destroyed half the treads on the one he pulled for me, I think cause he used a 1 3/4 socket & impact and didn't hold it square. Also pulled the bearing/axle as an assembly and tried to hammer the stub out, and eventually torched off the bearing?!!! When I got there he had ground the end down and was attempting to rethread. Convinced him to let me pull the other side myself cause I wasn't buying a stub beat to hell. Don't know what the issue is, cause my side came apart perfectly using the right size socket and finesse. He said he's never seen one taken apart so smoothly with everything intact. Made me feel good, but make me wonder, just how many have they destroyed? Sad.

 

Got everything back together today. New stub came apart and went back without a hitch. Much easier than the old one. Guess now we wait and see.

 

never had that problem, but good luck, hope it fixes your problem.

 

what kind of wheels or spacers do you have ?
anything with less backspacing that moves the wheel out, can eat up bearings.