U joint issue?

Not everyone. But the majority. And to be fair its not really their fault. They are taught that way. I'm sure in some text book it says always replace the yoke when the cap plate falls off and that's what they teach, and they fail to teach the why. Understanding the why is more important. The why in this case is because it's a sign the cap has been moving. But here is the problem, its a sign not a certainty. So you get techs sending drive shafts out to the machine shop to get new yokes welded on or dealers selling whole new drive shafts to truck owners that had perfectly good yokes. The ase puts out and teaches these best practice guidelines that do not have the truck owners best interest in mind.

 

Goodysnap's advise is spot on. All of it. Plates break because the cap fits loose in the yoke. If the plate has broken off on its own the yoke is bad. Breaking off during removal is a different story. If a cap is spinning in a half round yoke the yoke is bad.

Spyder. Goodysnap gave the op the most thorough advice in the whole thread. He now knows to check yokes for wear & what some of the signs are. You're trying to paint him as an untrained parts changer.

 

No i am not. As i said He could be a great mechanic or he could be a novice that just got out of school. I don't know. What i do know is in his first post he said ALWAYS change the yoke if the plate breaks off. And that is flat out not true. what is true is you always inspect a yoke for wear when you drop a ujoint.

Plates DO break off due to corrosion over years of running in the winter. anyone that thinks otherwise has never been around a truck more than a few years old.

Grab any ten year old truck with original ujoints and i guarantee you if you remove the bolts at least one of those plates is going to come off while the cup fits perfectly with no slop.

Also the op is obviously a novice or he wouldn't of asked if that ujoint needed changed. Telling him to inspect the yoke is good advice, telling him to change it just because a plate broke off could just have him spending hundreds of dollars unnecessarily.

 

Try adding some grease to the new ones. That thing is dry.

 

It's amazing how many guys don't even own a grease gun.

 

I just check the u-joints by jacking one wheel up and releasing the brakes. Chock the steers of course unless you're under a trailer. You can soon find any wear by turning the drive shafts by hand and moving the u-joints up and down.

 

Instead of arguing, do this.... when the toast u-joint is replaced inspect the yokes for wear to determine if they also need replaced. If the caps fall out then there has been some wear.

 

Inspecting before just replacing is exactly what i was saying. but yes if the caps fall out there is wear, no doubt. The debate was about the thin steel plate the two bolts go through holding the cap in the joint or yoke.