Side to side slop in U-joint yoke

The ujoint in my front driveshaft at the pinion end is moving side to side in the yoke, caps and all. It is enough that at low speed you can hear it flopping side to side. The tabs the retain the u-joint are there, but they don't seem to be holding the u-joint tight.

Any idea if I need U-joints or a new yoke?

Sounds like either the bolts in the yoke are stripped (new yoke or re-tap) or perhaps the u-joint is too small. Did this start happening all of a sudden after many miles, or did you replace the u-joints recently?

I vote for wrong U-Joint, the tabs should prevent any sid to side movement unless the seals are gone.

The yoke maybe worn. A quick solution is to replace the straps and shim the u-joint to center it. The straps should be tight enought to prevent the u-joint from sliding back and forth. Long term fix is to replace the yoke with a u-bolt type.

It became noticable recently, after about 10,000 miles or so on the U-joint. Possible that it was sloppy to start with but the straps had been holding it tight until now. The U-joints are spicers, so I would expect them to fit right.


Any links or part #s for the U-bolt style yoke?