SEJohnson

There's no play nor grinding nor noise coming from the front joint. It feels pretty good. I'll leave that one alone for now. The pinion is not leaking any fluid and I checked it for play, laterally in all directions and with the length of the vehicle. It was solid in every direction. When turning it there was slight gap between the gear teeth engaging in the rearend...but this is normal, correct? I'm heading for the install of the rear joint and I'll post back one I get a test drive in. SJ

I got the rear u-joint out of the shaft and cleaned up the pins. I noticed some vertical scoring on one pin (which looked like marks from the needle bearings, but this may have happened when I was hammering out the u-joint (turns out our vise isn't big enough to get sockets and the yoke in the jaws, so I reverted to hammering)). On the same pin, it looked like some of the steel had been chipped off - the surface of the pin looked rough and slightly pitted. I put all the caps back on the joint and checked for play. I found three of the four caps had very slight lateral play in them, but could this be due to void created when I removed some of the grease during clean up? Or should there be no noticeable play EVER? Do you folks think I should check the forward u-joint now as well? Or replace the rear joint and install the drive shaft to see if the vibration was fixed? Thanks for the help. SJ

Ok, sure enough...not hard to pull that out. So I have it out now, and I'm going to press out the U-joints with sockets and a vise. What should I be looking for in a worn u-joint? When I replaced one on my Toyota, it was fried (i.e. the bearing were dust), so I have little experience with slightly worn joints. The needle bearings and caps on the joint ears that were in the axle yoke look pretty good, and I don't feel any slop in those two. Thanks again. SJ

It's a short box truck. Is there a way to get the driveshaft out without removing the u-joints from the shaft via hammer/socket? Is there a slip yoke on the output of the transfer case? I'm familiar with the 'on-driveshaft' slips. I haven't gotten a repair manual for it yet so I can't immediately refer to that (I'm looking for one right now though). Thanks. SJ

Installed my Timbo APPS on Friday night after a week long bout with a dying pedal and injector surging. I had narrowed it down to the APPS as the cruise control held engine speed rock steady, but off CC and I was timid to drive the bucking truck on icy roads. Install took about an hour (but I was double and triple checking instructions as it was the first work I’ve done to my recently purchased truck). The included directions were very easy to follow. Overall an awesome setup and fix for the money, in my opinion. Only issue that arose was I needed to trim some injection molding flash from the APPS so it could fit in the socket and flush to the mounting bracket. Took a straight blade razor and 30 seconds. No prob! Thanks for the product Timbo! Works great and I am very satisfied. I highly recommend it!

I've noticed a vibration in 6th gear on the highway in my '02 HO CTD. If I am gradually accelerating, the vibration begins at 72 mph, and continues on up through 80 mph (I haven't been up much higher). But if I am on the pedal, the vibration will begin as soon as I hit 6th at around 55 mph or so. The vibration feels like it's coming from the rear half the truck (I can't feel much of it in the steering wheel, but a little shake is there). Around town at lower speeds and in 1st-5th it drives smooth. I haven't heard any noises coming from the drivetrain either. Has anyone experienced this same symptom? Or have thoughts on the source? Maybe a wearing u-joint? The tires are freshly mounted and balanced, and the truck was aligned last week. If engine RPM at these speeds would help, I can go check and reply. Thanks!!