DannyH

I took my '99 Limited to the local 4x4 shop for a HORRIBLE squeaking noise.

Mechanic says that my U-Joints are almost frozen, but he says that instead of just replacing the joints I need to spring for an entire rebuilt driveshaft. One of the reasons he cited me for doing this was because the driveshaft is missing a zerk fitting.

Is this true or don't the joints themselves contain the zerk? Is my mechanic lying to me?

xjmarc

Guessing it's the front because the rear never had a zerk. There are two versions of the front, one with and one without a zerk. The one with is better but if yours works I wouldn't waste my time or money replacing it. Get some new u-joints and make sure you keep them greased and you should be fine.

freegdr

all parts of drive shaft are rebuild able ,if the end that are welded to the shaft are ****ed up then it needs to be replaced ,a pic of where he said the prob is would help also

Tomxj48

the front DS has a grease fitting on it, but the rear DS only has them on the U-joints... unless you have an aftermarket DS... see which he is talking about front or rear... if he is talking about front, the double cardon joint or how ever you spell it might need rebuilt... if he is talking about rear he is full of crap.

PS I rebuilt my double cardon joint its not bad, you basically replace the Ujoints and grease up the little ball in the middle...

DannyH

Yes - He is referring to the front DS.

The 'end' that links into the t-case are the ones that are (really) rotten. Is this what you mean when you say that it might need to be replaced if that is the case?

Tomxj48

Print
Double Cardan Joint

1. Use a punch to mark the coupling yoke and the adjoining yokes before disassembly, to ensure proper reassembly and driveline balance.
2. It is easiest to remove the bearings from the coupling yoke first.
3. Support the driveshaft horizontally on a press stand, or on the workbench if a vise is being used.
4. If snaprings are used to retain the bearing cups, remove them. Place the rear car of the coupling yoke over a socket large enough to receive the cup. Place a smaller socket, or a cross press made for the purpose, over the opposite cup. Press the bearing cup out of the coupling yoke ear. If the cup is not completely removed, insert a spacer and complete the operation, or grasp the cup with a pair of slip joint pliers and work it out. If the cups are retained by plastic, this will shear the retainers. Remove any bits of plastic.
5. Rotate the driveshaft and repeat the operation on the opposite cup.
6. Disengage the trunnions of the spider, still attached to the flanged yoke, from the coupling yoke, and pull the flanged yoke and spider from the center ball on the ball support tube yoke.

The joint between the shaft and coupling yoke can be serviced without disassembly of the joint between the coupling yoke and flanged yoke.

1. Pry the seal from the ball cavity, remove the washers, spring and three seats. Examine the ball stud seat and the ball stud for scores or wear. Worn parts can be replaced with a kit. Clean the ball seat cavity and fill it with grease. Install the spring, washer, ball seats, and spacer (washer) over the ball.
2. To assembly, insert one bearing cup part way into one ear of the ball support tube yoke and turn this cup to the bottom.
3. Insert the spider (cross) into the tube so that the trunnion (arm) seats freely in the cup.
4. Install the opposite cup part way, making sure that both cups are straight.
5. Press the cups into position, making sure that both cups squarely engage the spider. Back off if there is a sudden increase in resistance, indicating that a cup is cocked or a needle bearing is out of place.
6. As soon as one bearing retainer groove clears the yoke, stop and install the retainer (plastic retainer models). On models with snaprings, press the cups into place, then install the snaprings over the cups.
7. If difficulty is encountered installing the plastic retainers or the snaprings, smack the yoke sharply with a hammer to spring the ears slightly.
8. Install one bearing cup part way into the ear of the coupling yoke, Make sure that the alignment marks are matched, then engaged the coupling yoke over the spider and press in the cups, installing the retainers or snaprings as before.
9. Install the cups and spider into the flanged yoke as with the previous yoke.

Cardan cross type universal joint with snaprings
Click to Enlarge Cardan cross type with U-bolts and snaprings
Click to Enlarge
Road house!

havensov

Agreed, grease it up, swap out the u-joints... Easy...

On a side not, if you do any hard wheeling, having an extra DS to swap in on the trail instead of screwing around with replacing u-joints on the trail.

Tomxj48

Have fun

DannyH

He also wants $500 for this 'operation'

So the consensus would be to swap out the U-Joints, ignore the missing zerk but always make sure I'm well-greased?

havensov

If you have enough brains to post this here, then you have enough to fix this yourself and save yourself $450...

SeriousOffroad

Get his email addres and send him alink to this thread.

He's a lying sack of snake-dung.

45shutr

So a front drive shaft is a little over three hundred bucks which means he is charging you almost 200 bucks in labor. That is a lot of money, just do it yourself, it is super simple.

Tomxj48

nismo5

for $500 you could buy 10 front driveshafts at the pick n pull and just keep throwin in a new one when one goes out

DannyH

Thanks for all the advice folks.