Hi all,

I had the dealer replace my passenger side axle joint today on my '99 4x4 1500. They also replaced the axle seal and a couple of other little things while they were in there. They charged be $202 and some change, not too bad.

The only reason I found the bad joint was because I had the windows down and I kept hearing a clicking noise at speeds below 45mph. I pulled the wheel off and found that the joint had about 1/2" of play in it.

What other symptons did I miss? If I hadn't had the windows down I wouln't have noticed it. Would there be some vibration at higher speeds? (70mph +) That's the only thing I have been noticing for the past couple months, but I just attributed that to crappy tires. I just want to know what to look for the next time around so it doesn't get that bad again.

 

It's usually clicking and popping. Sometimes it is different whether or not it is in 4wd or not. Sometimes a high screeching sound like the bearings are all dry and it's metal on metal.

 

a bad u-joint is just a loose and/or dry one that has play in it.
depending on how loose it gets - it can make the tell-tale clicking sound and/or make a vibration in the axle, and/or start popping when turning. you often don't notice it till it gets pretty bad.

 

What steps need to be done to change the u joints do you have to pull it all apart to replace them or are there some tricks?