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I ended up blowing my rear U-joint right where it connects to the rear differential last week...it was most impressive!

Anyhow, I was able to drop the front yoke and drive home in front wheel drive, easy.

The driveshaft got pretty banged up when it dropped, I think I am going to be getting a new one. Would a NOS drive shaft have any noted issues as long as I replaced the u-joints?

I have two u-joint numbers...

U-joint SMALL NAPA 305
U-joint LARGE NAPA 304

what am I going to need to replace both on the rear driveshaft? The large and small thing throws me off!


-T

The large U-joint is for the jackshaft between the tranny and transfer case. As long as the front and rear U-Joints are aligned (+ and + vs + and x) you should have no issues. The misalignment occurs when the yoke is pulled off then realigned with an off-set which would cause "clicking" when the truck is driven. VPW has a note about this on their website.
Gary

Thanks to everyone for the help!

I'll post pictures of the replacement parts when I procure them to help anybody else with similar questions.

A question which was asked via a PM; is there any seal on the slip joint which could cause problems being NOS?

-T

There may be a piece of felt under the slip yoke cap-just don't over-grease the assembly and you should be ok.
Gary

T,

On each driveshaft yoke, if you unscrew the cap, there should be (2) washers with a felt seal between them. The washers and the seal have tits on their ID that fit into the splines on the shaft and the felt absorbs the grease to keep it lubed. I'd unscrew the cap and clean out all the old grease from that area and clean the washers and felt seal with gasoline/kerosene/your choice. Then make sure when you hit the yoke grease fitting with your grease gun that the grease flows to the area where the felt seal sits. NOS is great, but 60 year old grease might not be.

regards,
bob

w30bob wrote:T,

On each driveshaft yoke, if you unscrew the cap, there should be (2) washers with a felt seal between them. The washers and the seal have tits on their ID that fit into the splines on the shaft and the felt absorbs the grease to keep it lubed. I'd unscrew the cap and clean out all the old grease from that area and clean the washers and felt seal with gasoline/kerosene/your choice. Then make sure when you hit the yoke grease fitting with your grease gun that the grease flows to the area where the felt seal sits. NOS is great, but 60 year old grease might not be.

regards,
bob

Thanks for the info! When I get the parts I'll make sure to clean this out.

-T

I've had the worst luck with auto parts store U-joints.

I've had the best luck with genuine GI joints in the little brown box from surplus dealers.

YMMV

DG

PS...you can't put a G-741 driveshaft together out of time, the spline only fits one way.

Just picked up a great looking driveshaft assembly from Veteran Vehicles in Wrentham Mass yesterday...everything is nice and tight. New u-joints and it'll be installed

Interesting thing I found out...my truck did NOT have an M-37 driveshaft on it...I will post a photograph tomorrow. Looks military, but much lighter duty.

-T