U-joint noises

[86SILVERADO]

Just thought I might post this for anyone out there with those sometimes hard to track down annoying noises. I bought my 67 about a year and a half ago now and have had it on the road ever since. It recently started making a creaking noise that was consistent with the rolling speed of the truck. I was having a heck of a time tracking it down because it would come and go so I was coming up with all sorts of strange ideas of what it could be. I was pretty sure it was drivetrain related but just couldn't track it down. One of the first things I did when I bought the truck was to put the grease gun on every fitting I could find and there wasn't any play that I could feel in the u-joints so I assumed they were O.K. Finally I got the idea to have my son listen alongside the truck while I rolled it back and forth in the driveway and he said it sounded like it was coming from the back of the driveshaft. I thought he must be mistaken But finally I decided to pull the driveshaft and check the U-joint out. I tried to rock it back and forth by hand and I could barely move it. It was almost completely rusted solid in two of the opposing end caps, the other two were fine. It is amazing what these old trucks can take. The funny thing is it made no noticable difference in the feel of it when on the road after I put the new U-joint in, but at least the annoying squeak is gone.

[whitesswj]

little things can add up to big annoiances
my .02

sswj

[Fred T]

Best way to check u-joints is with a pry-bar. On a level surface with the front wheels blocked, raise the rear of the vehicle and set the rear wheels on blocks. With the tranny in park (in gear for manual) and the parking brake set there should be no load on the driveshaft. Place the bar or long screwdriver in the u-joint and try to turn the driveshaft. If a u-joint is worn, you will be able to see or hear it move. Very important to keep them lubed without overfilling, which will allow dirt and water around the seal and into the joint. If you have one that doesn't take grease, change out the joint.

It's no fun dropping a u-joint under any conditions. In the past, there were several cases of failure of the front u-joint, which resulted in pogo-sticking the driveshaft at highway speed. Usually resulted in the vehicle rolling.

[86SILVERADO]

The tough thing about this one was that there was no play in it because it was so chock full of rust. The needle bearings had all completely fused together. It actually felt like there was nothing wrong with it until I dropped the shaft and tried to rock it back and forth by hand (the type of movement that would only occur from the driveshaft turning while hooked to the pinion shaft yoke) What I am saying is that the U-joint wasn't really worn at all. I figure the truck must have sat for a long time at some point and allowed the joint to sieze up. I am 99% sure that this must be the case given the condition of the truck wen I bought it.

[Stocker]

I once had a failing u-joint on a Dodge van - could hear an occasional "ping" echoing throught the driveshaft, but couldn't move the u-joint by hand (I didn't try Fred's pry-bar method). We put the van on a lift and had someone in it start it up & put it in gear. Easy enough to see movement when the driveshaft was spinning!