Drivetrain Tech General discussion of drivetrain for the Ford Ranger.

U-joint went bye bye!

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Old Mar 26, 2008
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My05edge's Avatar
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U-joint went bye bye!

well after my miraculous jump last year my truck had been wobbling at 40-50 mph, its been doing this for about 20000 miles now and i just got used to it, knowing it had something to do with the drive shaft, well just yesterday, going 65 down business 20, my u-joint couldnt handle anymore and decided to drop my drive shaft, all i hear clank clank clank on the ground, i knew what had happened when it did, so i stopped the truck and by the time i stopped it thought it was going 30 mph still with the driveshaft just jumping all over the ground! unfortunately i had to suck up my pride and got towed home by my friends jeep, but all in all it wasnt so bad, so a little word of advice, always check your u-joints!
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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I check mine every time I change my oil!!! I just replaced it.

From my experience, the splines go bad, then it shatters the cap, then the u joint is just rattling around in the slot on the ds, then the u joint cracks...goodbye! haha, thats how it happens. Could be in 5 mins, could be in 50k miles
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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I replaced mine about 6 months ago. How do you check to see if they are going bad?
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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Originally Posted by Roach2004
I replaced mine about 6 months ago. How do you check to see if they are going bad?
I was told:

Excess play
Any noise
Clunking
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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Originally Posted by jrpro130
I was told:

Excess play
Any noise
Clunking
yep, and now i will check mine all the time now, my u joint was worn on one spline and cracked on the one opposite, it couldnt take it anymore, another tip is dont abuse your ride if you dont have to money to fix it
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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Originally Posted by My05edge
yep, and now i will check mine all the time now, my u joint was worn on one spline and cracked on the one opposite, it couldnt take it anymore, another tip is dont abuse your ride if you dont have to money to fix it

haha, I hear that.

Your lucky, U joints are 12 dollars.

I burned my transmission in water...that was 2200.

Needless to say, I'd rather break u-joints!
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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well i wouldnt say lucky, the u joint mounts on the driveshaft got all tore up on the ground and im having to get it fixed but yah i still got out lucky i suppose
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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I agree you a bit lucky, running a bad u-joint for 20 thousand miles can really tear up your transmission and transfer case.
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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well i grew up on the premise of "drive it till it breaks" from my dad, and also "if its not broke, dont fix it", guess ill listen to myself next time
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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Originally Posted by My05edge
well i grew up on the premise of "drive it till it breaks" from my dad, and also "if its not broke, dont fix it", guess ill listen to myself next time
Sounds like my pops. lol
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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u-joint $10... used driveshaft $100...

no pity on people that dont check there u-joints.
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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Originally Posted by 04 EDGE
good u joints are more then 10 bucks. and yes i agree with zach, you should have had it checked. so know your paying the price.
Moog is 21 from Advanced
I got the "off brand" of Moog, it was 10+tax. Can't complain, I got 30k miles w/ the old one, I just replaced it because it had a slight clunk. I now have ~7k on the new one...no problem to date.
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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i had the $10 joints also, then i snapped one 2 weeks later and had to do the whole job over again with some real u-joints.
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008
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daayyng
 

Last edited by blegit; Mar 27, 2008 at 01:08 AM.
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Old Mar 27, 2008
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Originally Posted by 04 EDGE
good u joints are more then 10 bucks. and yes i agree with zach, you should have had it checked. so know your paying the price.
i was just using a base statement. used drive shaft can be as much as $200 also dur...

btw i just paid $25 each for Spicer u-joints so i think i know what i am getting
 
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Old Mar 27, 2008
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i was just trying to get the word out to check your u-joints so this might not happen to someone else, wasnt trying to get pity, i know im paying the price but ill get over it
 
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Old Mar 27, 2008
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i understand that i am just saying... Grant even went tons of miles on a bad ujoint and ended up distroying his driveshaft. and then from the vibrations and driving on it. he cracked hole in his t-case
 
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Old Mar 27, 2008
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could it affect the differential at all? and also will it be ok to start my truck with the driveshaft pulled out? it leaked alot of the tranny fluid out, so i wont put it drive or anything
 
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Old Mar 27, 2008
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Does it look like this?Name:  driveshaft001.jpg
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Size:  9.4 KB If so, then it will have to be taken to a driveline shop, or get one out of a junkyard if your lucky enough to find one.

That's what happened when my U-joint failed, it took me 3 days of searching to find one- 3 states away.
 
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Old Mar 27, 2008
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^^looked exactly like that but thankfully my grandpa used to work at a shop that fixes driveshafts so i just took it to that shop to get it fixed up
 
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Old Mar 27, 2008
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Originally Posted by 04 EDGE
wasnt trying to bust your ***** zach geesh.

and BTW the brute force are the best affordable u joints on the market
its for my TTB axles. the upgraded spicer gonna install full snap rings also. axles already been on the bridge port and milled..
 
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