Thursday, February 2, 2012

Can u tell if u joint needs to be replacement by looking at it.?

Im pretty sure my u joint is going out on my 92 yj wrangler. There is a distinct popping sound when I turn when the vehicle is in four wheel drive. I could be wrong, but thats what a few people have told me. Ive never switched out a u joint although i do have the haynes repair manual and have done other jobs on it. Is there a way to inspect it by just looking at it? If so what do I look for. I dont want to replace a perfectly good part. Also, how difficult of a job is it? I'm fairly mechanically inclined so i think i could handle the job , especially with the repair manual......Thanks for any adviceCan u tell if u joint needs to be replacement by looking at it.?
if it looks like rust is coming out or it you shake it and can see play it probably bad do you mean the one connecting the wheel or axle?because there are three total in front

hope this helps
No, you cant tell by looking but you should be correct. The needle bearings have cracked and splintered and what you hear is the twisting sound of bearings that dont want to move. Very common on 4wheelers.

The angle of the driveshaft is greater than 8 degrees so they wear out U joints more often.Can u tell if u joint needs to be replacement by looking at it.?
when you shift from park to a drive gear, does the trans "slam" into gear? if so, then the u joints need replacing. if you are moving forward and turning a corner and you get a popping sound, that's the CV joint on the front, not the u joints on the drive shaft.
Check the u joints for play or slop by trying to twist either side of each one in opposite directions. If there is any wear in the joint, you will feel it. Good luck with that.Can u tell if u joint needs to be replacement by looking at it.?
the only way to check a u-joint is by pushing up and down on it and then pushing it side to side and if there is any movement it's bad.
mine made noise too . you can look to see if there is any play in it or movement.it takes about 3hrs to do isnt hard.
Maybe but not necessarily.



You are talking about the u-joints in the steering knuckles, right?



Since your Dana 30 has open knuckles, I would say put it in 4wd and park it. Jack up that wheel and rotate the tire back and forth. You may be able to see the play and/or hear the clicking of a bad joint.



It's not a difficult job, but it does require some specialized tools. If you're going to take your YJ off-road at all, it's a job you need to know how to do and you'll need the tools eventually anyway. Buy an extra joint to keep in your box of spare parts. The haynes manual is fine for guiding you through the process.



If it were mine, I'd strongly consider replacing the balljoints while I was in there.

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