U-joints

[waterrattler]

Heads up on the rear u-joint on all '03 6-sp H. O. srw trucks. Lost my u-joint at 41,000 and was informed dealer only item at a cost of $ 119. 00 ! Local AG shop found a match for cost of $ 35. 00. Factory part # 5102157AB , Neapco # 3-0188. Very slight grinding on the edge of yoke is needed.

 

[CSilkowski]

Thanks!



Who would have ever thought that u-joints on a heavy duty truck would go out so soon. What gives?? I had a two Toyotas before (Landcruiser and 4x4 p/u). Put over 200k on each and never had to replace the damn u-joints. Used them for towing also. Humm. .

 

[Grayhackle]

This has been my experience on u joints that you can't grease. Last truck I had with this kind of u joint was a 97 chev S10. Had to replace front and rear u joint and have the drive shaft rebalanced after replacement. I do like grease zerks, only 2 on the 03 Dodge!

 

[Torque King Jay]

I feel your pain as far as premature U-joint failure. My F-350 4x4 Offroad cooked it's original set of U-joints at about 70,000. Funny thing is that I rarely ever towed anything with it and never usually hauled anything heavier than 2 dirt bikes.



The thing that caused the failure was the extreme angle of the driveshaft. Since I never had a load in the back the truck never sagged down enough to reduce the shaft angle and it sat very high for a stock truck. This puts alot of bind on the shaft and joints. That and the fact that the stock Ford U-joints are "lifetime lubricated" didn't help either.



I just replaced the U-joints on my girlfriends Ford E-150 1/2 ton delivery van. This totally impressed me :--) This thing went 304,000 miles on the original set. They outlasted 2 engines and 2 transmissions. Same "lifetime lubricated" Ford specials, but one thing I noticed when I was under the van was that the drive shaft had almost no angle to it. Less angle less = less rotation of the U-joint and needle bearings within.



I watched a cool demonstration one time. I was at a trade show and a guy was demonstrating the effect of severe angles of drive shafts. He had a ring attached to each end of a driveshaft by the U-joint. Attached to this ring was a bunch of plastic fingers that stuck out. The rings with plastic fingers rotated with the driveshaft and the plastic fingers would hit a stationary metal tab that was sticking out at each end of the drive shaft. (Kinda like attaching some playing cards to your bicycle when you were a kid to make noise on the spokes as you rode down the street)



When he had the driveshaft spinning and the angle was very small between the two ends, the plastic fingers made a smooth sound very steady in frequency. When he made the angle more severe you could hear the fingers increasing and decreasing in speed. This demonstrated how a severe angle on a drive shaft caused a bind and then release effect on the shaft when it was under load. Cool demonstration



Just a reminder anytime you change anything on the shaft you should have it rebalanced.



If your ever in a pinch in the Cincinnati, Ohio area there's a place on the northeast side of the city on Route 28 called B&T Shaft and Gear 513 575-4200. They replaced my U-joints with Zerk fitting ones and rebalanced the shaft for about $90. 00. The guys are great thereOo. Oo.



Sorry for the essay, but I hope this helps you.

 

[Blakers]

Originally posted by waterrattler

Heads up on the rear u-joint on all '03 6-sp H. O. srw trucks. Lost my u-joint at 41,000 and was informed dealer only item at a cost of $ 119. 00 ! Local AG shop found a match for cost of $ 35. 00. Factory part # 5102157AB , Neapco # 3-0188. Very slight grinding on the edge of yoke is needed.

Has anyone tried this Neapco u-joint replacement?



Thanks.

 

[Blakers]

If the Neapco joint works, these cross reference to the Neapco number:



RDL: K-188

Spicer: 5-188X

Precision 351



They are all known as 1480 PTO and U-joint.



The information is from http://www.cvaxles.com/drivelineimages/rockford.htm

 

[Blakers]

Has anyone found an aftermarket part number for the front axle joints? I need one asap.



Thanks.