Universal joint

Uh, it would barely hold enough air to unlock the brakes.

The U-joints were loose.

The U-bolts were loose, just like all the [censored].

Because, like, this truck had gotten thrown together for a show, and I mean, when I say thrown together, it was thrown together.

Suspension frame mounts.

Drive shaft U-joints.

I don't even know what the language is.

Okay.

Still, the problem's there.

And uh, so I'm now coming up on another oil change, and I was trying to think of, uh, how do I approach my or- original dealer and say, "Look, I don't wanna give you a symptom, but will you guys inspect, you know, the front axle U-joints, the axle disconnect, look for wear or, you know, lubrication out of spec or something like that?" So I wanna sort of direct them towards a, you know, a problem versus just giving it to them for another week and have them, you know, give it back to me and say, "It's...

They can't figure it out." And I don't wanna be obnoxious about it either.

I just wanna be like, "Hey, while you guys have it, will you check this or that?" You know?

I have an older truck, 2005 GMC Sierra, and there's some squeaking going on at the rear of the drive shaft.

The mechanic said that it needed two shocks, two shocks and two U-joints.

These shocks, what is he referring to?

I'm only assuming that he's saying the shocks on the rear of the truck, probably making some squeaking.

Okay.

Is there anything off in there?

Well, the U-joints that he's telling you that you need, the U-joints, you have a U-joint that goes there and goes to – one side of the U-joint will be going to the actual drive shaft.

The other side will actually go into what we call a yoke that will be mounted to the differential.

It bolts to the... steering column, and that's what bolts it to the rack and pinion.

It's basically like, if you're familiar with cars enough, it's like a U-joint on a driveshaft.

It has a flexible joint, because a lot of times, the rack and pinion might not always be right out of the steering column, right in a straight shot.

A lot of times it might be behind it, might be below it, might be above it.

So they have to put a flex coupling on it.

And again, for you and everybody else listening, it's a coupling that has to be able to flex, but it's like a flexible U-joint.

Okay? And what happens is it has bearings in it like everything else.

And it's exposed to rain, salt, the weather, the elements, okay? So that bearing in that coupler goes bad.

If you feel it under acceleration, that's a drive train vibration.

And it's most likely in either one of the U-joints or the carrier bearing.

Now, most Tacomas, years ago, 20 years ago, when you had a U-joint that was bad, you could replace it.

Most of the vehicles today, you cannot replace the U-joint.

So when you think about reliability and availability, that's what you got to really think about as these trucks get older.

Certain things are being made like U-joints and thus and that, the other components.

When you look at the 80 series, the 60 series, things are just getting harder and harder to get.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I could never make it, and when we needed the drive shaft I was like, "Hey, we need a U-joint for an LF 4L60, but then on the other two sides of the U-joint it needs to be '62 Cadillac." And she walks in.

I'm on the phone with her in case there's follow-up questions, and she's like, "I need this to this." And he was like, "All right," pulls out the book, and, "Okay, boop, boop, boop." He goes and hands her...

She's like...