U joints & yokes - Does the yoke go bad?

[PhattyX]

I've got play in my rear driveshaft at both the axle and trans case. I put in two u joints that were called for, however the same play is still there. The shaft can wiggle horizontally left and right. I spoke to a drive train place this morning and they said the yokes on Jeeps go bad frequently. I'm looking for a bit of input. Since the new u-joints don't fit, should I be assuming its the yokes and buy new ones for the axle and transfer case?

Jeep: 80 CJ5 - AMC20 rear axle - Dana 300 transfer case

On a side note, I checkout my CJ7 (same axle and trans case) and there is absolutely no play at all.

Thanks for any input / advice.

-X

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

The ujoints should fit snug, any play means they're either the wrong size ujoint or the yoke has been wobbled out by throwing out a ujoint.

You have to localize the movement in the driveshaft, is it in the center at the slipsplines or is it at the ends at each yoke? If it's the yokes, you're talking about bad pinion bearings and bad TC output bearings.

 

[MikeB]

ive had simalar problems on my yj's, the yolk nut tends to get loose and causes the yolk to flop around, Now, after having to repace the yolk, i make sure i check it everytime i do an oil change, a little bit of loc-tite works wonders too!

 

[Junkpile]

I've always had problems with the strap style yokes. The little bolts get loose and allow it to fug up, or the strap simply rips in half around the bolt head. If you need to replace the yokes, and it sounds like you do, then get the u-bolt type. A Ubolt retaining the Ujoint cup is soooo much better than that little crappy strap.

 

[Snitty]

I'm with Bounty... you first need to let us know where the movement is. Is the joint wobbling inside the yoke? Is the yoke wobbling around too? What did you have for breakfast?

To directly answer your question. Yes yokes do go bad. I lost a retaining ear on mine one time and it took me quite a while to find out what the problem was.

 

[firemanharry]

I'm with Bounty... you first need to let us know where the movement is. Is the joint wobbling inside the yoke? Is the yoke wobbling around too? What did you have for breakfast?

To directly answer your question. Yes yokes do go bad. I lost a retaining ear on mine one time and it took me quite a while to find out what the problem was.

- what he said.