well guys, i called the dealer with my vin and asked him about this 3400 or 3500 designation for my front axle and completely confused him, lol. So, i grabbed a small sliding caliper and measured the bearing cup on the u-joint. by autozone's ridiculous mathematical calculations, i have the "3400" front axle (1.375" bearing cup). needless to say, i'm going to Advance where the same part is $15 cheaper and they use actual measurements and not made-up ones, lol. thats wednesdays task now, i'll let y'all know how that one goes.......

 

I hate to say it, but I highly doubt replacing the ujoints are going to help your issue.

 

i've made peace with the fact that this may very well go from a "repair" to a "rebuild", lol

 

I dont have the money but looks like I might being doing the manual locking hubs and gearing and posi just for the hell of it if thats the problem. So please let this not be it lol

 

Got sick of the sticking dropped my truck off at the local shop he called me a few hrs ago my u joints are binding. So in other words keep going wit the rebuild gatta replace the u joints. It wont kill you to drive it like that for a while im ganna just save up for gears, diff lock front and back, manual locking hubs and throw the u joints in at the same time.

 

i was just getting ready to post....u-joints. not too bad of a job, but i did wreck the driver's side wheel bearing/hub, lol. aside from replacing that, problem solved. thanks for all in the input guys. i'm sure i'll be back for something else in the future, lol.