Re: A u-joint favor/question

From: Matt Beazer (teseract@moparhowto.com)
Date: Fri Jun 26 2009 - 01:04:23 EDT


The Neon looks like it was driven into a brick wall, but to it's credit
the passenger cabin didn't deform at all. My wife has a broken right
foot (I TOLD HER NOT TO DRIVE IN FLIP-FLOPS!) that will require 2-3
surguries to repair. I think the impact shoved the engine back and
forced the master cylinder at an odd angle that broke her foot on the
brake pedal. My 5 year old is just bruised up, my 8 year old got a
helicopter ride to the hospital and has a broken collarbone and a
contused lung. It could have been much worse. The other driver had a
suspended license and no insurance of course.

At this point I don't know what the heck the noise is, weather it be
wheel bearing or the very early signs of a u-joint going. I asked my
father since he's delt with these u-joints a lot more (I'm a FWD guy)
and he said usually if one is going you'll get a "clunk" going into
drive. I don't get a clunk just the normal sensation of the driveline
loading up under the high cold idle and torque of the V8. Same thing in
4wd. I think someone did the rear brake shoes but didn't have the drums
machined or replaced, I get the "leap frog" sensation under light
braking but no steering wheel shimmy.

I guess I'll see if it gets louder, I need to rebuild the front steering
(pitman arm/idler arm/tierods) and have it aligned and new tires. The
ones on there are way out of balance and worn out. Ran into a guy at
the local dealer getting an o-ring, he flagged me down and asked if I
was interested in some 15" aluminum "custom" wheels with some almost new
(~100 miles on them) Hankook 30x9.5x15" tires. He said mud terrain but
I don't know if they'll end up being full mud terrains or some A/T
tires. He bought a newer Dakota and only wants $300 bucks to get them
out of his garage; sounds like a better deal than the $800+ I was going
to spend on new cheap rims and tires even if they're not the size I
want... I need the money right now since the insurance company will
never give me what the Neon was worth and my Minivan is down with brake
problems too.

MattB

Barry Oliver wrote:
>
> I think both Mike and Tom have run 2wd for a while at one point or
> another. I actually had a FWD Jeep for a while when I dropped a rear
> U joint in a past life......
>
>
> Dustin Williams wrote:
>> I ran with out it a few times, no problem at all, unless you need to
>> put it into four wheel drive ;). Sorry to hear your having such a
>> rough week. Is everybody ok?
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 6:34 PM, David
>> Gersic<info@zaccaria-pinball.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Thursday 25 June 2009 16:34:00 Matt Beazer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Also, if it comes down to it, would there be any ill effects of
>>>> removing
>>>> the front drive shaft temporarily?
>>>
>>> I've read of other people on the list here doing that. Just be
>>> careful what
>>> you remove and how so that the front diff and the transfer case stay
>>> sealed
>>> and you should be fine.
>>>
>>> My '01 has a different setup for the front driveshaft from yours,
>>> but I ran
>>> without it for a while when its CV joint failed. On mine, just
>>> unbolting it
>>> and pulling it out was no big deal.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>



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