found on road dead!

[trader007]

found on road dead! Update*!

Update:

Rebuilt tranny, used tcase and driveshaft installed. working pretty well.

had trouble with 1st gear holding too long, then it would go to 2nd and immediately 3rd. weird because it should skip 2nd unless i stand on the throttle.

which made me think about my trottle position sensor. it had 227k miles on it. my motor wasnt quite running right either, which it does every so often.

new tps installed, and a world of difference. motor runs crazy good, its like an electric motor. and the tranny is starting to shift right... it seems to be getting better anyway. ill know after another day or so of driving i think...


conclusion on the problem, i think the tranny itself locked up. it was cracked, and the t case was actually ok after we got it out of there. the tranny was a used one with supposedly 30k miles on it, but i remember it felt just the same when i drove as my original one with 160k miles on it. that 2nd tranny either had high miles on it, or it was in a wreck and partially broke when i got it. i put maybe 40k on it, and the fluid always looked great no leaks.

in any case, im back up and running for $1000 in parts. it truly does feel like a whole different truck, there is absolutely no hesitation, so lag and nothing clunks or moves when i hit the gas. it feels like a brand new car when i drive it... so weird...





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Original
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my poor truck!

i was only doing about 80 on the way home today and KABOOM. ujoints exploded. the ones i replaced 3 weeks ago.

transfer case fluid on the ground, wont even engage the front wheels. driveshaft completely gone. had to pay $150 to get it towed to my house. ill find out the details tomorrow... there was vibration but only above 50... i think some of the pins that fell out when we installed them didnt get put back in. i couldnt really tell because i had other vibration from broken back brakes.

what a nightmare! maybe the ujoints didnt fail, maybe it was the transfer case that seized... just check the fluid too. god dammit...

 

[Andy D]

I was lucky, I was only going 35 when the 3~4 month old rear U joint spit out its keepers. I was 150 mi from home, but only 5 miles from a planned stop. Up until that point the 1300 mile shakedown cruise had been uneventful. I had enough tools with me to remove the rear shaft and continue on the front end. After I got home I found a local source for the Spicer with a zerks . I was much more careful second time around

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

2 main causes of new u-joint failure...
Improperly greased
Improperly installed

Most common installation error I see is people don't force the caps back outwards. If the joint doesn't flop around freely, It's installed wrong.
Also, clips/ snaprings not fully seated, I use a chisel and tap them into the groove (external style)

And to keep from losing bearings, take a dab of grease and smear it around inside the cap over the bearings, with your finger.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Captain Ledd]

Damn I hate u-joints. I've done several and every time they just take forever, screw them up, drop needles (grease included). I've seen people doing them so drunk they can barely stand, and they're fine. I do my absolute best to be super duper careful and precise and just... fail.

Glad you're ok.

 

[trader007]

thanks. im more thankful everyone else is ok. there were a lot of cars and semis around me, behind me... nobody swirved or braked as far as i could tell, and i was in the left lane- so the rotation of the shaft should have spun it out the left side and into the grass.

who knows if i even bother trying to find it. its likely cracked and/or bent.

tow truck guy was pissed as all hell. i ruined his night apparently. i mean i was the one paying him and he wasnt the one stranded but whatever... $130 to tow it 5 miles.

it was leaking transaxel fluid. which scares the hell out of me, because if the axel just dropped out it shouldnt leak fluid. im probably looking at a whole transfer case and drive shaft

oh, and if anyone wants to suspect something here- when i did the brakes today, i noticed a lot of grease on the underside of the truck where the rear u joint was. it looked like it spun off the u joint. at the time, i figured it was just the excess we had sloppily applied... but im starting to think a seal was bad and thats why it fell apart. it felt fine, i did check how it spun before i left... but again that pretty much tells you nothing as we have all discussed before...

 

[Brownie Mobile]

Drives shafts are incredibly strong so you never know! But also engines do put out some power so maybe it's not in great shape but worth a shot i think.

 

[adsm08]

I'd get the drive shaft checked. They are strong torsionally, but are just hollow tubes, so when they hit they do bend easily.

 

[Andy D]

I set the clips with a punch and a 8 ounce ball peen hammer. They are in the groove Then I tapped the face dead on and around the edges until each bearing was set and working easily. Then I greased it .I watched each cap take a little hop outward The joint rotates smooth and easy and has stayed put for 6 months.

 

[Scrambler82]

it was leaking transaxel fluid. which scares the hell out of me, because if the axel just dropped out it shouldn’t leak fluid. im probably looking at a whole transfer case and drive shaft.

You don’t need more advice but explain the above statement ?
Are we talking Transfer Case and Driveshaft ?

oh, and if anyone wants to suspect something here- when i did the brakes today, i noticed a lot of grease on the underside of the truck where the rear u joint was. it looked like it spun off the u joint. at the time, i figured it was just the excess we had sloppily applied... but im starting to think a seal was bad and thats why it fell apart. it felt fine, i did check how it spun before i left... but again that pretty much tells you nothing as we have all discussed before...

What does the rear diff look like, are there any cracks around the Yoke area ?
Wondering if when the Driveshaft decided to take a trip on its own it tried to take part of the rear axle housing with it; could be why there is a lot of grease under the truck !

 

[trader007]

1080p video being uploaded now. cell phones are amazing.

http://youtu.be/FNo1NvoYvhg

will go live soon.

i think the transfer case seized up and blew out my brand new u joints. i dont think ill even bother looking for the driveshaft... maybe i dont know. i think because the joint is still on the back the driveshaft probably broke.

sounded like someone set a grenade off underneath my truck at 75mph...

 

[Scrambler82]

Nice video...
Your trans/TC mounts looks worn out too, a lot of shaking.

TC output shaft was tuning, didn't sound like anything was binding.

I wonder if the either the rear or front u-joint seized up ?

Did you see any cracks n either the TC or rear housing ?

Check the level of oil in the TC.

 

[trader007]

see, i think the tc is binding. it also leaked a lot of fluid out- i cant see where but i havent got it on a hoist yet. and if it was just bound u joints and the driveshaft fell off, there shouldnt be any fluid leaking.

when i put it into drive, it doesnt start spinning the output shaft until i give it gas, and when it doesn spin its all rocks. the mounts arent that bad, its just bouncing that bad because the gears inside are banging around. i havent checked the tranny fluid, i wonder if i lost that too. i really hope i didnt hose the tranny as well! i just replaced it 40k miles ago!

 

[PanamaExpat]

So I gather you have an automatic trans. Like Scrambler said it looks like the TC is functioning. I didn't hear anything scary. Let us know what you find when you check fluid levels. Looks like metal fatigue on the front yoke to me.

Are you sure your front wheel drive was working before this happened and you tried to limp home on it?

 

[Andy D]

The vibrations of the failing shaft prolly took out the TCase seal is a possible scenario too. When I fix something and then it fails again in short order I dont blame the parts.

 

[pcollins]

The vibrations of the failing shaft prolly took out the TCase seal is a possible scenario too. When I fix something and then it fails again in short order I dont blame the parts.

What about when you get a brand new part thats bad out of the box...Years ago I bought a slave cylinder, did all the work to replace it, only to find out it leaked. Straight out of the box brand new.