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Something broken in driveline. Diff? U-joint?

T

TheDjost

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Montreal, Qc
I have a distinct metallic clicking noise that is speed and load dependent coming from the driveline in the rear of my truck. It could maybe be the G80 that bit the dust, but I'm hoping for a failed u-joint. Since I have a 4x4 and I need to drive the truck to work tomorrow, I was wondering if it would be safer to pull the rear driveshaft off and drive it like a front wheel drive for the 15 miles to work and back. That way I don't run the risk of snapping a u-joint and ruining a section of driveshaft. and if it's the rear differential, it will be spinning, but at least it won't have any loading on it so it may survive a bit longer. I don't even know if it will move that way, but since I *think* that the transfer case doesn't have a differential, maybe it'll pull itself along just fine.

Has any one on here ever tried this and how did it work out?
 
I'd just drive it easy as it is. If you pull the rear shaft then all the fluid will leak out where the shaft entered and the seal rode on it.
 
Sounds like a U-Joint to me, they only take a couple of minutes to change out.

I would change it out over pulling a drive shaft. A lot less work! :thumbsup:
 
Guys, I'm not talking about pulling the pinion gear out of the diff, just unbolting the rear u-joint and sliding the driveshaft section off the truck. Same thing as if I was fixing the u-joint. I'd just leave it off for a couple more days.
 
Ok, so I ran it easy to work an back without problems. When I go back I took the driveshaft off to look at the u-joints. You guessed it: the back joint had all four bad caps. Two were completely empty except for some rusty dust, and the other two wouldn't turn at all. I had to pry them off to look inside. I guess that I caught it early because the center cross isn't mangled too bad, just has some small ridges worn into them from the needles rubbing without grease. I've seen a lot worse in pictures in older threads in here.

So now I got a new u-joint all cleaned up and re-greased waiting to be installed tomorrow.


But I never got an answer to my original question: Lets say you bust a rear u-joint in the middle of nowhere. Would it be bad for the truck to run it for a while with the rear section of the driveshaft removed if you couldn't fix it right away?
 
I just did it a few weeks ago. 2 miles to the parts house and back and it pretty much drained the Transfer case in the Tahoe. I call it part of my rust prevention program... ;)

I wouldn't want to go far without the shaft in place.
 
Ok, so it will move itself with only the front powered. That's good to know in a emergency.

I got the new u-joint installed yesterday, and as predicted, the noise is gone, so I'm happy to have my truck running good again.

Now you guys make it sound like you have a single piece driveshaft and when you slide it out of the transfer case, the oil in the transfer case will leak out. On my truck, I have a 2 piece driveshaft, so when I unbolt the rear section from the differential and slide it out of the splines, there's still a short section of driveshaft left on the transfer case. This is my first GM pick-up, so I can't compare, but maybe I have a 2 piece because I have an extended cab with a 8' bed. I didn't measure the wheelbase, but maybe shorter wheelbase have singe piece driveshaft.
 
minisub said:
I just did it a few weeks ago. 2 miles to the parts house and back and it pretty much drained the Transfer case in the Tahoe. I call it part of my rust prevention program... ;)

I wouldn't want to go far without the shaft in place.
Click to expand...

When I did it My yoke was still in the transfer case so no oil was lost, I probably ran a week like that until I got parts.
 
I didn't realize you guys had 2 piece shafts. My Tahoe and Dmax both have a single piece. So, dropping the shaft means no tail shaft in the t-case = oil loss. In a pinch for a few miles like I was in, no problem and I needed to change fluid anyway. With a two piece, I guess you could go pretty long on just FWD. I wouldn't make like Mario as it will handle a bit funny, but I cannot see how anything would be harmed.
 
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