U Joints

[Mopar1973Man]

Last night on the way home I start detecting a vibration occurring when the driveline went slack. Kind of knew at that point the rear driveshaft was going to be the trouble maker. I found a way to change the rear most u-joint in under 1 hour without pulling the driveshaft. I grabbed the Harbor Freight Ball Joint Press and began to press the old joint out. Finish the job and rolled it out of the shop in under 1 hour.

 

[Toolmaker]

Wow, that is good time. I might have to pick up one of those next time I get in a store. I can't believe my u joints are still original on my 98.

[Mopar1973Man]

Yeah, I got over 65k miles on that u-joint. Not bad but it takes all the abuse of road salt and water. Doesn't surprise me to have that one fail. Still in all to be able to change u-joint without pulling the entire driveshaft was a huge time saver. 

[Dieselfuture]

Spicer non greasable would last a lot longer

[Mopar1973Man]

Sad to say they don't. About 3-4 months I can wipe out the non-greaseable U joints. When I had the shop do my carrier bearing on the rear shaft he replaced all three u-joints with solid non-greaseable joints failed in about 3 months of winter driving. End up replacing all them with greasable u-joints and last 2 years and 65k miles. Being every oil change I can pump grease in all the joints and solid u-joints you can't so the salt and water take there toll faster. I should shot a picture or the salt formations on my exhaust system gives you an idea how nasty the conditions are...

[Dieselfuture]

There is got to be something wrong with brand of joints you're using, original spicers should last close to 200k imo, at least a100k in any condition. But there is always a but.... @Mopar1973Man when did your original ones failed. I can't believe @dripley still on same ones for 400k +

Edited February 14, 2018 by Dieselfuture

[Mopar1973Man]

Even the OEM factory didn't last very long either (sealed). They were replaced in the first year of ownership. Even had a brand new front driveshaft installed at 15k miles because the u-joints failed and tore up the cardan joint. Greaseable seem to last much longer. 

[Dieselfuture]

That's weird for sure

[AH64ID]

Greaseable can have the potential to last longer, with frequent greasing around 5K miles at most. Generally speaking they seem 

 

My wife's 4Runner is still on the OEM joints at 173K miles and they are TIGHT but I grease them every 5K miles. 

 

Most generally get better life out of non-greaseable because they have better seals, since they don't want the grease to get out. This also keeps road grime out. 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

26 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

Greaseable can have the potential to last longer, with frequent greasing around 5K miles at most.

 

Yeap that what I've learned. As long as you pushing enough grease to push the debris and old grease out they will last quite a long time. Like this most likely failed because it got a harden grease plug in the end of the arm that failed.

[AH64ID]

38 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Yeap that what I've learned. As long as you pushing enough grease to push the debris and old grease out they will last quite a long time. Like this most likely failed because it got a harden grease plug in the end of the arm that failed.

 

I don’t think 65K counts as a long time thou. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Some of this stuff I'm kind of fudging on maintenance wise being the lack of time. Then constantly being on the road. I'll admit my last time I had the local shop grease those joints while they had the truck on the lift doing tire rotation. Did he put enough in? Did it just get skipped? Who knows. I know I've skipped on my last oil change didn't bother because of lack of time. Spend 13 hours a day in the truck and 39 hours a week!

 

Like today I'm still behind trying to catch up. I've got to pack tools to do repair on a Ford Explorer and fix the door handles tomorrow. I've got paperwork to do for MoparMom's Dialysis yet. Then take care of some bills that hit my desk this evening. Time is not on my side. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Mopar1973Man

[dripley]

5 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

There is got to be something wrong with brand of joints you're using, original spicers should last close to 200k imo, at least a100k in any condition. But there is always a but.... @Mopar1973Man when did your original ones failed. I can't believe @dripley still on same ones for 400k +

434k to be precise. I have set of spicer sealed sitting on a shelf. Figure to do them sometime in the future just because. I do not see alot salt like some off you do. Have done my best stay away from it.

[AH64ID]

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Time is not on my side. 

 

You have a very busy schedule these days indeeed. 

 

You may have heard the saying “pay me now or pay me later”. It’s something we discuss often in aviation maintenance.  Pay me later always seems to accrue interest.  

 

It may feel like putting something small off isn’t a big deal but it can easily, and rapidly, grow into something bigger. 

 

All in all, your doing good things Michael. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Thanks. U-joint is a small price to pay... My biggest concern is MoparMom and her health. Again I've got bigger fish to fry from attempting to get home dialysis started, talking with an attorney, and keeping the bills paid. Changing a U-joint seems rather minor. Yeah, I get your point. If I'd only taken the extra moment and crawl under with the grease gun I might not of had to change it in the first place. Like on my side job list I've got to move SmartyResource again to another server. It just never ends for me. 

[Dieselfuture]

Another thing Id like to mention on good vs not so good quality of u joints, good ones like Spicer will have smaller in diameter needle bearings but more of them it helps to spread load more evenly and because they don't roll over very far smaller bearing tent to go further and cover more area where cheaper ones have larger bearings and don't roll a full revolution and they make indentations in u joint itself. I'm not sure if you're following me but I tried. Basically if u joints don't travel at all or very little they wear out faster. 

 

Edited February 15, 2018 by JAG1

[Mopar1973Man]

The one I used to replace this one was on the shelf that purchased a while back. I think its a NAPA u-joint. The alternate plan was to down the truck and use the gasser. But at 3.099 a gallon for super unleaded (Requirement for the Mopar Performance PCM) and 2.999 a gallon for diesel I'd rather push to put the diesel back on the road. Might not be a quality u-joint but at least MoparMom will make it to dialysis tomorrow. 

[jlbayes]

Both of my trucks eat the cheap parts store ujoints. Sealed and grease-able. 

[Mopar1973Man]

I think torque value tends to play a roll here for your trucks.

[jlbayes]

The 12v is stock lol. The 24v I get it but not the 12v.