In my other cars I have had u-joints that lasted the life of the car, over 100k miles, and another GM Van that needed new ones about every 30k.....I put 228K on that van.....

So a couple questions on C4 U-joints....

1) Are they all the same.....all years, auto vs std, 1/2 shaft vs main shaft
2)What kind of experience has everyone had....last forever or ????
3)How does the life of the half-shaft u-joints compare to the life of the main drive shaft u-joints
4)Perhaps most importantly, if you had bad ones, what were the symptons, how did you know??? or did you do it on a preventative basis
5)If you haven't had problem.....what mileage are you at???

I do know some have changed them and the best are the non-zerk Spicers...not sure about part number..

???????????? I am at 33K....thought I might have heard the start of the "hum" noise that was characteristic of my many failures on the GM van..

 

33K is too soon. They should last closer to 100K. I did 4 of mine at 130 and the other 2 at 144 recently. They should last quite awhile, barring significant drag use.

As far as I know the halfshaft and driveshaft are the same thru the years, but those two are different from each other. My driveshaft joints went out at the same time as one side's joints.

Hard shifting into D and R are what clued me into their failure, followed by clunking when they were really bad.

 

Mine lasted till 130k on my 90. When both of the halfshaft joints started to go south, the car developed a vibration at higher speeds (70+).

I replaced all of them (6) since I had the car apart anyway.

 

[QUOTE=vader86. They should last quite awhile, barring significant drag use. [/QUOTE]



Now you tell me, that is so true.

 

I replaced mine at 160,000 miles and they were shot. I replaced them with Spicer. There are a couple different types that I know of. One which is greased and permanently sealed and one which has a fitting and you add the grease.

 

1) All the halfshaft joints are the same. All the driveshaft joints are the same but different from the halfshaft. I believe that some years had aluminum drive shafts and others has steel. The aluminum parts require coated u-joints to reduce corrosion.
2) No they dont.
3) The driveshaft joints seem to last a little longer. The halfshaft joints wear out very soon. Not sure as the the exact cause. Some people say the seals deteriorate, the grease leaks out, and they just grind themselves to pieces. This is certainly a contributing factor. Also consider that the spindle rod bushings allow for some play, so the u-joints in the halfshafts are subject to some lateral forces, as well as torque along the axis of rotation.
4) When I purchased the car, the seller told me the u-joints were on the way out. They made a clunk when the car was put in gear. Shortly after i bought the car, I drop the hammer, heard the most horrible clunk, and then the car would ping every half rotation of the tire. I cracked the cap which was badly worn due to the grease leaking out.
Keep in mind the wheel bearings are also notorious for going and making the "hum" sound
5) the problems showed up at around 60k miles. I think age is certainly a factor.

 

oh yeah 1 last point

If you search people around here suggest spicer cold forged units. Spicer recomends them as an upgrade over the stock units. They are expensive as sin, but compare them side to side with a brute force piece and the quality is obvious (ie: they are forged, not sand cast)

5-800x for the halfshafts
5-795x for the driveshaft (double check this number i am not tally sure)

 

Where are you guys buying these Spicers from?

Someone mentioned NAPA, so I went to the humongous Napa warehouse in San Diego, but they don't carry Spicer anymore.

As much as I love Summit I don't think they carry them either.

 

Tom's Differentials

 

on a side note; when replacing my spicers, I called the company to find out which grease is used in case I wanted to add a little more during the installation. According to Spicer, 2 greases have been used in their heavy duty u-joints; if the grease is reddish in color - chevron lithium base NGLI -EP2, if the grease is more greenish/blue - Chemtool NGLI - EP2.

Replaced my driveshaft joints at 90k while repairing clutch fork pivot bolt. Have not replaced half shafts yet.

 

The corporate napa stores here in canada do not have a direct account with Dana. I had to go to a chain called "Traction." It's associated with napa and caters to 18-wheelers. They have a direct account with Dana.

Perhaps it's like that in the states.

Tom's differentials is great if you live in the states.

 

I think the 2nd number should be 5-786X.

 

I don't drag race at a track, but Who among us hasn't done a few (ok maybe a lot of) burnouts with the car? I got my Vette used and in excellent condition, but it already had a fire extinguisher mounted inside, so it hadn't been just a go to church on Sunday car.

When it hit 75k, I replaced the half-shaft u-joints at the same time I replaced the wheel bearings. The original u-joints were just starting to go bad. From the outside while still on the car they seemed ok. When I took the caps off after removing them, it was obvious they in need of replacing. After 14 years the seals are not as pliable and the grease not as fresh as it was when new. You cannot always measure a part's lifetime based upon mileage. Time takes its toll on seals and petroleum based fluids or greases.

I called the Dana/Spicer tech support line and they said that a surprising number of 18-wheeler repair places have Spicer accounts. Call one near you and ask.

 

How hard is it to change them out?
How many hours does the book allocate to change them out?

 

It should be a good day's work. Putting the car on blocks, support the motor... Pull both rear knuckles out of the way, and the cbeam.


I'll do mine and bushings at the same time.

 

What bushings?

 

right-o

786 sounds right!

 

Rear carrier, control arms, sway bar... once you're in there.

 

Is there a kit that you can buy with everything in it?
Part numbers ?

 

Check here:

www.suspension.com

I bought my kit from summit, and the sway bar bushings and shock bushings seperately. Make sure to check your sway bar size.

Goodnight.