Hey guys,

Changed out my ujoints on my Dana 30 a few months ago, been driving with it for some time, noticed an annoying clicking coming from the front, ignored it for some time, but eventually felt compelled to check and found loads of up and down play on the u joint.

Weird, they were pretty much new...I removed the shafts and found this





Some of the keepers weren’t sitting right.
Silly me I though, so I knocked them back into place and reinstalled.

Went by for a drive today and the noise is still there and I’m 99% sure it’s the keepers clicking in and out of the seating.
I’m guessing I bashed those u joints a bit too hard when I hammered them in and bent the ears...is that even possible?
Anyone ever experienced and fixed this?

 

The easy fix:
If you haven’t already, Id use a punch to tap that back into place. Then try to spin the keeper around with some vice-grips being as careful as you can to not mar up the surrounding surfaces. Maybe the back of the keeper facing ourboard will keep the ear from tapping it as it spins.

The more involved fixL
If that dont do it, measure the internal width of the ears on the opposite end of the drive shaft, compare that measurement to that of the axle end. If its even a little off, it can make a big difference. If its off, try bending it back into tolerance.

The painful fix:
Replace the u-joint..


For what its worth, I’ll pull the drive shafts but I’ll take it right to a shop here in town. The’ll do my axle u-joints and all of the driveshaft u-joints for around $100.00 - Which is worth it to me, unless Im just broke (which happens) then I bust out the vice and the BFH...

Im no mechanic but I do enjoy wrenching on my jeep. That said, there are some super smart folks on this board, If Im off i’m Sure they’ll correct me.

Keep us posted...

 

I would just change the u joint because it can move any time and then you could be far from home and then your stuck to pay some one to fix it or tow it home . if this u joint is giving you problems get rid of it .

 

I have to agree. If the ear is bent, you'll need to pull the u-joint anyway and try to bend it back into position with some kind of spreading tool, heat and a BFH - then carefully and without putting unnecessary pressure on the ears, install the new u-joint right out of the freezer where you've stored it for at least 1 night in advance of the replacement. Between the cold and little bit of grease, it should slide right into the yoke, then install the clips - if they don't go right into place, I'd try either a smaller clip or filing/sanding down the clip so it sits fully in the groove.

The Spicer replacement joints come with an assortment of clips IIRC, so maybe you just used the wrong size. You can try a different size clip maybe, but my feeling is that if it's been off and now is clicking, that no matter what you'll need a new joint.

 

They seem to be off by about the thickness of a bearing needles. Are you sure one of them didn't slip out of place while installing them. Having one fall out of place and stuck between the end of the cross and the cap is the usual reason for not getting the caps to press in all the way.

 

Thanks for all the reply’s guys!
I really hope it’s not a bent ear. Actually found a thread with a similar issue and it seemed a couple people suggested a needle bearing that was flipped up during installing...very well could be that. Just to clarify, half of the clip is seated and the other half not.
If so, it would be quite amazing as I’ve driven about 7000 miles with it like that!
Anyway, will only get to this next week so will update then.
Thanks again for the input.