quick drive shaft overhaul question

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

is 300,000mi a good time to replace universal joints and carrier bearng on my low-rust ranger? I am having some symptoms that could possibly be due to the old parts but i still have that itch "if it aint broke, dont fix it"

question two: i will be ordering parts off rock auto and I am wondering if there is any other pieces i need besides two U joints and a carrier bearing... do I also need to buy new seals or some sort of one-time use bracket? Ive never done any work to my drive shaft, but chrisfix video made it look very doo-able

 

[rusty ol ranger]

U joints for sure are a wear item. At 300k (assuming they are original...which i doubt) itd be a good idea.

The carrier bearing i wouldnt mess with unless you rotate it by hand and hear grinding or feel (alot) of slop.

Seals and things? If they aint leaking...leave them alone.

Whats the symptoms youre having?

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

rusty old ranger,
"The carrier bearing i wouldnt mess with unless you rotate it by hand and hear grinding or feel (alot) of slop. "
do i need to disconnect my driveshaft to feel for this play? or can i just spin it freely by hand under the truck?

someone mentioned i should lube my universal joints from time to time. what is the technique for doing this? do i have to shoot lube under a rubber seal in the universal joint?

symptoms are mild/moderate 'cyclic vibration'
vibration starts in the front of the truck, moves under my seat, and then i feel it behind me, this happens in about 3 second intervals. it sometimes shakes at about 65mph and above.
i also noticed it still shakes when i have the clutch disengaged. wouldnt that also result driveshaft not spinning?

 

[sgtsandman]

Lubing the u-joints only applies if they have zirc fittings the you can attach a grease gun too. If they don’t, they are unsetviceable. The zirc fitting is either on the yoke or on one of the end caps.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Look at tires for the cyclic vibration. Out of round, badly worn, broken belt, bad balance, etc..,

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

"symptoms are mild/moderate 'cyclic vibration' "
IT WAS THE TIRES

oh my god.... TLDR
i got two new (used) tires at the same time as my replacement control arms. when i first got those tires i assumed shitty tire shops balanced them. i recently spray painted my rims and i noticed the old wheel weights were still in the same spot. I came back and asked them to balance the wheels. they visually inspected them, said they were fine, but balanced my old two rear tires for free. whatever, i go ahead and replace my rotors and bearings as they suggested.... got rid of my rotor braking wobble /shrug
a few weeks later to rule out a bad tire, one by one i swapped my tires out for my spare. still wobbling.
a few more weeks later (about the time of this post) i said **** it and paid another shit tireshop to balance those two new (used) tires.... both were unbalanced.... i didnt get a chance to get a good freeway drive without bumper-to-bumper traffic until today and holy baloney, its smooth!

300,000miles: should i try to force some grease into my U joints?

not relevant:
the last month, i had a good moving gig, one day of hell, then dude asked me if i wanna come help unload the truck and he would send me on a freight train home, one more regular work day, and one more super relaxed work day, $1000!
instead i had him send me on freight train up north, fell asleep at the foothills of the cascade mtns and when i woke up my feet were frozen. hang out therefor two weeks, the day i get home, my girl gets paid to drive someone to LA and we hang out in slab city for a week, i get heat exhaustion trying to get a pool pumped out all day in 105+F, and then succumb to covid. my parents say dont come home for the truck (and laundry) until im not sick so thats another week.... so now a month later i drive my truck home and its smoooooooth. man this whole past month, i kept thinking about going for a long highways drive, lmao

something interesting: 2 weeks in my dad reparked my truck and it started just fine. when i came home my battery was at 2volts, headlights were not switch to 'on'.... wtf. i guess im stoked pick-n-pull was out of refurbished batteries cuase walmart replaced mine no questions asked. gonna check my battery voltage around midnight and again at 8am

 

[Josh B]

Awesome Ybwaput!
Why were you taking a freight train?
You don't really give a lot of information on the truck in the profile

 

[sgtsandman]

For the u-joints, unless they have grease fittings, there really isn’t anyway to grease them and not risk damaging the seals. If you want to check them, drop the drive shaft and move the joint around. If they feel rough and or notchy, it’s better to just replace them.

 

[tw205]

Spend the extra $ and invest in Spicer U joints. Last 10 times longer than the inexpensive (cheap) garbage. MHO