Broken Universal Joint

[hdoerr]

I was on my way home tonight and shortly after getting on the road I felt what sounded like a blender doing its thing right under my seat. I stopped at a gas station to check it out but could not see anything out of order. I had not been driving her hard or noticed anything unusual until just then. I decided to go extra easy and started to get back on the road when I heard and felt a very loud snapping sound immediately followed by an even louder shuddering and grinding sound. I stopped the car immediately, not 20 feet after I got started and looked under the car. The front U joint had been sheered off and the drive shaft was on the ground in the direction of forward travel. I can't imagine what would have happened if that would have happened at highway speeds. Anyway, here are the specifics: '90 GSX with free mods (otherwise bone stock), welded diff, and about 129k on the odo. I am going to assume that the U joints are original and have two questions in particular: "Besides being old could the U joint be overstressed from the welded diff" and "How hard is it to find just the front section of the driveshaft since the yolk looks like a hand grenade has gone off inside of it". The car will not move until I can get the damn thing up off the ground enough (Damn suspension drop) to secure the drive shaft or take it off all together and then get it to the shop via flat bed of course. I would appreciate any info of course especially from someone that may have had the same problem. Thank you.

 

[91 Turbo Mitsu]

Age of the u joints and the added stress of a welded diff probably caused the failure. As far as the driveshaft check the boneyard or you may have to get it from the dealer. Also to you should replace all the other u joints on the shaft while your at it,because the others are probably going bad as well. Good luck and keep us posted. Travis

 

[silver bullit]

Speaking of which how do you check them and what to check for?

 

[hdoerr]

So I have been searching for a U joint for my car for almost two hours now and the only one I found (Dealer only item of course) is two hours away and will cost me 100 bucks.WTF Just for shits and giggles I looked up a U joint for my pickup and one of those costs 22 dollars. The sad thing is I don't even know if a U joint is all that I need since the yolk on both the shaft and transfer case look pretty jacked up. Does anyone have a link where I can find a 23 spline transfer case in the event that mine is done? Thanks.

 

[dontfeedphils]

Check out JNZ Tunning and pick up a bunch of their transfer case recall kits. They're only like 30 bucks for the whole kit that comes with the yoke and the U-joint. You obviously won;t need that many yokes, but its a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a bunch from the dealer.

When I rebuilt my driveshaft I picked up three of those recall kits and some carrier bearings for pretty cheap.

 

[hdoerr]

Dope, I can't tell you what sort of retarded quotes I have gotten today. Thanks dontfeedphils.