U-Joint Blowout

[o_mccarroll]

Driving home today, I got into my neighborhood and heard a loud CLANG and the truck started shuddering. I limped on back to the house and got underneath and the joint that connects the two segments of the rear driveshaft was thrashed. I'm going to have to have the truck towed to the dealership I guess. It's not driveable, and even though it is probably an easy fix, I would rather see it done under warranty! I just can't figure out what caused it... it's never been off-road, and I know that just an EZ doesn't add enough power to wreck a u-joint. Anybody else heard of this or seen it happen? I'm a little disappointed that an almost new truck would eat a u-joint like that!

 

[danandamy]

I would guess that when they were installing it at the factory, someone probably accidentally dropped some of the little needle bearings out of it or it didn't have grease in it. It's pretty rare to lose the middle ujoint. The rear one is the one that usually goes first. I'd chalk it up as a freak thing, get it fixed and not worry about it. In fact, I'd be more worried about the other stuff the dealership will probably break while they're under there.

Have a nice day!