Ok, got a weird one for you. I was changing my oil the other day, and I was looking things over while I was under the pickup. I was inspecting my front universal joint when I noticed this thin strip of metal that seems to be caught in the joint. I took two pics. The first shows what it looks like before I touched it, red arrow pointing to the strip. The second shows how it is not connected to anything on the bottom, but held in the joint at the top. Any ideas what the heck this is?

[IMG]local://upfiles/9095/51EC08FA9BBA42EBB4D5B371B005330C.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/9095/E2422260675A493FAAB30CF2F1B333B8.jpg[/IMG]

 

it looks like a weight to balance them, then again i have no clue but thats my guess

 

Id guess shim or something to balance as stated above.

Interesting though.

 

I used a bronze material similar to that as a shim on my transfer case yoke. The person who had it before me let the joint go bad and the bearing cap would rotate inside the yoke (which is bad) and wollard it out. It looks like someone did the same thing on yours and maybe the bearing cap has rotated it out. Check your joint and make sure your bearing cap isn't turning in the yoke.

Just my 2 cents and I hope it helps.

 

How exactly do I do that check?

 

Are they the original U joints? When they are installed at the factory they have a band holding the caps on and together, it speeds up the install time during assembly.

 

To the best of my knowledge, it is original.

I guess next time I am down at the dealership, I will have a tech look at it, but for now, there is no issue with the performance of these parts, so I am going to just leave it alone.

 

Check for any slop in the universal joint. It is kind of hard for me to explain but I will give it a shot. I grab the ends of the yoke and try turning them and moving them in opposite directions. If there is any slop replace them. Also, look closely at the bearing cap where it is exposed and look for signs of wear or gudging. That is what I look for when I am checking to see if the caps are rotating. Which joint is it or where is it? Example: rear output yoke on transfer case. The other thing is to listen for a clunking noise when going from a stop to moving or vibration. When I got my CJ, the joint off my transfer case was making so much of a clunking noise and causing so much of a vibration, I thought the rear end was going. Turns out it was just the joint was bad and wollard out the yoke. That is why I used the brass to shim it up until I replaced the yoke. It is pretty easy if you have to replace the yoke. It doesn't require any special tool to press it out of the driveshaft. Just make sure you mark a reference line so everything lines up the way it came out.

Hope this helps.

 

Copper got it right, it is a retention clip. It is there to hold the caps in place while the driveshaft is disconnected. With that feature you don't have to worry about loosing them when doing service or repairs or even transporting with the shaft removed. They are held in by the clamps, if you want to remove them, just pull those snaprings off and there ya go.

 

That is a scarry thought if they left that peice in there and pressed the caps in. That would create a low spot on your cap and the needle bearings inside wouldn't be allowed to rotate properly. The straps that I have seen holding caps on are much bigger, at least big enough where you can't press it in the cap. I can't imagine they would do something like that. And removing the snap ring will not free it up. You have to unbolt the yoke straps. Make sure you torque to specs and use lock tight when reinstalling. Make sure you put the snap rings back, if you don't, say good bye drive shaft.