ok as you know i have a bad u-joint on the pass side axle shaft.

Now the dealer is the one who told me this, and showed me the play in th u-joint.

well my back has been getting better to where i was able to jack it up myself and take a look. I jacked up the pass. side, and i have play going side to side, and very very small play going up and down.

I checked because, the previous issue i had was it would hop turning left.
Now its hoppng when i turn right.

can the u-joint cause the hop both ways? or is that the wheel bearing? the dealer (for the first time) is being gay, and saying they need a half hours labour (42.50) to diagnose.

how can i distinguish if its the wheel bearing or u-joint?

 

a bad u joint won't give you any play on the tire, but a bad wheel bearing (or ball joints) will.
any play on the axle shaft means that the u joint is wasted.
u joints are easy, change that thing then see if you still have an issue.
an easy way to get severely stuck u joints out is to cut them off with a grinder. after getting the u joints body out, the caps will pop out with a hammer and socket easily.

 

I just replaced both U-Joints for the front wheels on mine. Caused the tires to hop both directions. I'm can't remember for sure, but if you jack of the front end and turn the wheels to the left or to the right and can rotate the tire it's not a U-joint issue. I think I did this with the new U-joints and she turns just fine.

You get the hop because the needle bearings are binding (in one cap or more) and the weight of the truck and the momentum is forcing the caps to spin when they don't want to.

My front end was rusted in so bad that I ended up using an air chisel to get the thing apart. Stupid WI salt!

I'm pretty sure once you get the new U-joint(s) on you'll be able to spin the tires when turned to the left or right. I didn't have the slack cause rust was making up for the space?

 

like sheriff said, wiggle play at the tire is bearing or ball joint. no wiggle is what you want. a tiny amount is not dangerous, but might be noisy. you can test this with truck on the ground or jacked up.

with truck jacked up, inspect the ujoint. seals should be intact. needle bearings should still be in there. wiggle the 2 half against each other. should be no play, but a tiny tiny amount might can be tolerated. a lot of play or no seals, must be replaced immediately or it shouldn't be driven.

 

Any play is bad, get someone to move it up and down, while you look at where the upper and lower ball joint, and the steering knuckle meet, if there's no play, it's most likely the hub bearing.Play at the knuckle is the ball joint. The u joint being worn will not cause the spindle to move

 

I type wayyyyyyy to slow.LOL

 

The same way you check a ball joint. jack up that side and grab the top and bottom of the tire and see if there's any play. A tire hopping means something is binding and not allowing the wheel to rotate smoothly. Also while the tire is up in the air turn the wheel to the left or right and spin it by hand and see if something dont look right.

 

+1 you can tell alot just by spinning the tire and listening to it!!

 

ok when i spun the pass. side tire when up in the air, she didnt spin much like there was something stopping it.

if i try to rotate as fast/hard as i can, the tire spins about a rotation to a rotation and a half...is that normal? swooshing sound

DS is completely tight....its just the pass side, and grabbing the two parts of the u-joints, there is a mininmal amount of play.

 

There should be zero play in the U J .The axle will move a little, but not the u joint caps.