Thought my axle was fine, turns out I wasted 3 days on the wrong part

My front driveshaft u-joint started clicking last Tuesday and I figured it was the obvious culprit. I pulled it, replaced it in the driveway, and the noise would not go away. Turns out the slip yoke had worn down almost a quarter inch and that was the real problem. I never even thought to check that because every video I watched said u-joint first. Total time from first click to fixed was 5 days, mostly because I had to order the yoke from a shop in Reno. Has anyone else chased a noise only to find it was a part you ignored for way too long?

1 comments

1 Comment

nelson.cameron16d ago

Not to pile on, but the slip yoke wear usually means your pinion angle was off or the shaft was binding. A u-joint will click, sure, but a worn yoke makes more of a thunk or vibration under load. Once that metal starts wearing that fast, it's usually a sign something else is loose or misaligned, not just old parts. Worth checking your carrier bearing and driveshaft angles before you bolt it back up, or you might be doing this again in a few months.