U-joint wisedom needed; I replaced the original u-joints and new one failed in 2 days

[Spoolin4Ever]

So, my u-joints were squeeking....so I haed them replaced.

I was having a hrad time finding parts, so I bought some Neapco U-joints from Schucks: $15 each, replaced all 3.

Well on day 2, I dropped the clutch on a downshift into 2nd, and the one of the caps came off of the front ujoint (needle bearings fell out). It came off partway (the driveline started vibrating, I pulled off, drove slowly about 1/2 mile to a safe place.
I have a few questions:

1. Which u-joint gets the most stress/torque on it? Is it the front? If so, Can I just order the tcase rebuild kit (From JNZ Tuning), and use the u-joint from that, and leave the middle and rear u-joint (Neapco ones) in there? Or do the middle and rear one see as much stress....just curious because I have put about $1000 into my car in the last 30 days..and it's still down. And I was doing stuff somewhat premptively, it's not like I waited for it to break.

2. Anyone here have experience with u-joint failures? Does a cap coming off usually mean it's a crap part, or could it have been the mechanic not doing a thorough job? Would he have needed to rebalalnce the driveshaft when he replaced those u-joints the first time, even though there was no failure? Also, I did not see a white marker or any mark on the drive shaft, aren't they supposed to mark it so it is balanced?

3. And just generally curious whos has experience with different brands of u-joints? There's not allot in search results as far as u-joints (compared to many other topics).

4. Is it common at all for u-joints to fail on AWD DSM's? Mine had about 160K on the chassis when I replaced these.

And I'm just open to any and all contructive comments and information ono the topic.

 

[roadrunner2176]

If a cap fell off of the u-joint or universal it's because whomever installed them forgot or didn't install the cap compression clip properly. If the universal itself failed that quickly I could see if being a bad joint, but just the cap is improper installation.

 

[steve]

4. Is it common at all for u-joints to fail on AWD DSM's? Mine had about 160K on the chassis when I replaced these.

They are a maintenance item, they wear out. If you can't easily roll your car around by hand on a flat surface then you should check them. Mine were getting stiff and crunchy at 120k.

All the spiders in the driveshaft are the same and the cheapest way to get the OEM parts is by ordering the recall kit for the transfer case yoke. You might be able to fine the part number by searching the archives.

Steve

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

I wonder if JNZ has like overnight shipping? How much is the regular shipping on that anyway? Gotta be heavy with the tolk thingy in there..

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

They are a maintenance item, they wear out. If you can't easily roll your car around by hand on a flat surface then you should check them. Mine were getting stiff and crunchy at 120k.

All the spiders in the driveshaft are the same and the cheapest way to get the OEM parts is by ordering the recall kit for the transfer case yoke. You might be able to fine the part number by searching the archives.

Steve

Here yah go:
recall #780 Recall p/n: CCFE7801
Mitsu recall kit p/n: MR470072
(x1 DRIVESHAFT YOKE, x1 U-JOINT)