I was swapping out my steel driveshaft for an aluminum one i got off e-bay, after spending $150!!!! on getting it balanced i went to install it and the u-joints from the old driveshaft are bigger and longer than the ones used on the aluminum driveshaft, i went to the parts store and after much aggrivation found a U-joint that is used on 77 models or somthing that is the same size, and now of course since i didn't think ahead of time the Rear u-Joint isn't going to fit into the rear diff yoke because the u-joint is too small. What do i do? am i screwed? i paid like 90 bucks for the DS, should i find a shop to mill the holes on the ds to fit?

 

Don't mill anything. Hacking on stuff is almost never the right approach except as a last resort.

Get the right U-joints.

Figure out what drive shaft you have; I'm not sure if it makes any difference, but it might. There are 3 possibilities, any of which might actually be the same; you have a third gen drive shaft from a car with RPO JG1; or you have a shaft from a LT1 car (93-97); or you have one from a LS1 car (98-up). They're the same length and will interchange, but I don't know about whether they all use the same U-joints or not.

Buy all 3 (or however many it turns out that there might be) if you have to, and take back the ones that you don't use.

 

unfortunatly i can't take back the one i bought off e-bay, i have the right size u-joints for the ds, but they are too small to fit into the Diff yoke, or the tranny yoke. the yoke that came with the ds seems to bee the same length and is also a 28 spline yoke. the u-joints on the alum ds are the kind that have outer rings holding them in, the steel one has the c-clamps that go near the plastic retainer. Has anyone had this problem? i checked at the parts store and the guy says it's the same part number u-joint for all years from like 82 up to 02.

 

Yokes are not 26 or 28 spline.

Maybe you've got an idiot .... ahem, an intellectually challenged American? ... at your parts counter (Auto Zone? CSK? Good luck: you need a real parts store). It's not the same # for the aluminum drive shafts. There is a different #, that just slaps right into the drive shaft you have and hooks right up to the rear end you have. Just get the correct U-joint and your problems will all be solved.

No, no one who has the correct U-joint has ever had this problem.

The steel drive shafts all use the same U-joint. The aluminum ones take a "conversion" one.

The Neapco numbers are 1-0153 for the front, and 3-3130 for the rear. If you want the corrosion-protected one, it's the 3-0544.

 

You should need a 1310/3R combo u-joint. The aluminum shaft should have a Dana 1310 yoke, and the rear-end should be a Saginaw 3-R yoke. The 1310 yoke is 3.219" wide and the cups are 1.063" with outside locking rings. The 3-R is 2.563" wide with 1.125" cups and inside locking rings. If these measurements sound right, you need a Spicer 5-3022X, Rockford K3022, Neapco 3-3130, or Precision 350 or 372.

 

so you mean that they make u-Joints with different ends on each side? are those the part numbers? i never heard of those companies, can i get that stuff at normal parts stores?

 

is that just for the rear? that should be all i need if i use the shaft from the ALUM DS. Right? it looks from the website like they sell them at advance auto parts, good thing they JUST BUILT one near me. ill check it out tonight

 

i got to auto zone before they closed an i got the 3-3130:lala:

this kicks so much ***, i love these message boards, this would have been the biggest nightmare without those part numbers, store clerks know nothing around here ESPECIALLY at autozone, i wish real parts stores had thier hours.

 

Imagine what we all used to go through in all those long centuries and millenia before the Internet..... we had to get REAL GOOD at measuring stuff, reading paper catalogs (paper catalogs? Auto Zone? did I just say that? ooopps), finding people who knew what they were doing, and so forth. Life was a real hassle back then.

Glad you got the right thing!!! It's amazing what having the right part # before you walk in the store can do for you, even at the dealer sometimes. They're just as ..... challenged as the parts store guys at times. All I did was look it up at Neapco's site. They have their whole catalog posted there.

 

The average retail parts store generally isn't much use for anything, unless everything on your car is perfectly correct for the year, make and model. Even then they might not have accurate information on some options like aluminum driveshafts. As soon as you start modifying your car you're pretty much on your own, and it's up to you to figure out what you need, or figure out where to find people that can help you.

For u-joints and bearings and the like I don't usually bother with parts stores, I go to an industrial driveline shop. The guys there have dealt with enough oddball pieces of machinery and farm implements and heavy-duty trucks that anything I bring in for a mere car isn't much of a challenge for them.