1997 Chevy Silverado rear u joint problems

BEN BAUERLE

MEMBER
1997 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
197,000 MILES

I am having problems keeping a rear u joint in my truck. I am lucky if they last 4 thousand miles or so. I am not sure why I do 90% highway driving I am not sure if my shaft is bent or if I just got a hold of a bad batch of u joints or what the deal is.I have had my local Chevy dealer put one in and the other I had another certified repair shop put in one I am about to install this one my self

Saturday, October 17th, 2009 AT 11:13 PM

2 Replies

QUAGMIRE86

MECHANIC
98 POSTS

Without knowing your mechanical experience, forgive me if I assume wrong, but are you installing the U-joints correctly? If you are, a bent drive shaft will cause premature wear and will fail. Also, if any of the balancing weights have broken off the drive-shaft, it will be "Out of balance" and cause a failure too. Additionally, if you do any "Mudding", accumulation of mud or debris that sticks to the shaft can cause an out of balance situation. If you have any type of lift kit on your truck, it can put undue stesses on the U-joint too.

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Sunday, October 18th, 2009 AT 8:24 AM

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

Also you might want to check the tranny mount on the tailshaft, If the angle is wrong it causes premature wear, and a bad mount allows side to side movement.

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Sunday, October 18th, 2009 AT 8:40 AM