Repeatedly bad u joint

Booyah45828

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If it's continually shearing out the axle side I'd check the yoke on the pinion for damage/bent. If it's out of sorts at all it'd create a weak spot, that being under acceleration, loaded, up steep hills will continue to find.
 

Black dawg

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Over tightening u bolts? I assume this is a 1330 truck, are you aware of the difference bettween 1330 and 1330F u joints. Have pictures of the failed u joint? What brand u joint?

Most aftermarket u joints are junk and not even worth putting in.
Do you have a picture of the rear pinion/driveshaft angle?
 

u2slow

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Too little of an angle and the joint doesn't move enough and the needles will pound flat and then fail, especially if your loaded heavy.

Seeing the trailer pic, and OP saying it expires on a hill... methinks that's one to check for.

A 1330/1330F ujoint has smaller cups/journals than the 1350 series that replaced it by the brick nose era.

I dont have any particular trouble with aftermarket ujoints. Regular greasing is the key.



...
 

JAKRANCH

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U bolts were tight but not torqued, can't really calculate angles cuz we couldn't find the back half of driveshaft afterwards. Based on what all has been said my suspicion is on the axle yoke and or wondering about a damaged differential, like if it's dragging, if that makes sense. A few miles before it blew I want getting as much power for pedal depression as normal, would that match anything driveline wise? I was thinking the clutch was showing some wear originally
 

Black dawg

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Also would truck have 1330 vs 1330f labeled somewhere?
no, 1330f is just slightly bigger caps where it fits into pinion yoke.

What I have seen happen, is the standard 1330 get used and the ubolts get tightened up which distorts the caps and failing in short time.

What is happening to the u joint?

The 1330F joint is only used in positions that have u bolts holding the joint in the yoke. Not every truck used them, but many of these did.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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Just to stir the pot a little, the only time I've seen repeated u-joint breaks is from shock-loading the driveline. Do you dump your clutch on the ZF a lot? Especially when towing? Rather than a smooth engagement. Or maybe it's too grippy(oil fouled) and you can't help it. That happened to a work truck of ours, hence the shock load.

You might consider some driveline rings in the interim. U-joints are cheap but the shafts are pricey as you know. At least it would save you having holes in your fuel tank or risking throwing the driveline into someone's vehicle or bashing up your own.
 

JAKRANCH

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No I don't clutch dump, as stated driveline are expensive lol. I'm really leaning towards some angle or other being off. It's mostly academic at this point I've got another truck to get on the road and the wife is quite strenuous in her objections over continuing to dump money into it. With repeated failures and being an extended cab I'm more inclined to steal parts off it than argue with her at this point
 

03wr250f

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Is the yolk damaged? Twisted or worn?
Maybe causing it some movement before breaking?
Pics would be helpful to a cheap angle finder from harbor freight would also be helpful for checking angles
pinion and trans/tacse output angles should be the inverse of each other or darn close
 

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