went to do the rear wheel bearings and realized it was a partially seized u joint....which took 3 hours of beating, cutting,and swearing to get out. the caps broke thru at the end when i tried to press them out at a friends shop, the sides were completely rust-welded together. oh well, break out the die grinder ! but its all back together, just went for a quick spin--no more crunchy noises ! the old u joints looked 'splined' under the caps, the rollers actually grooved into the bearing surface...yikes ...........:stupid:

thats what happens when they are neglected..glad you got it repaired and it wasn t the spindle bearings

Somedays you get peanuts and somedays you get shells. Good thing it didn't really come apart and tear up a bunch of other things with it. And a much easier fix than the bearings too. Not to mention less $$

no kidding! If that shaft got loose at speed...well we all know how bad that could have been. Tim, you in Lake Charles yet?

and of COURSE the other side is making noises now.....d*mmit. i seem to get "repeatedly reamed by the wretched rod of reality", on a regular basis.......oh well, guess i know what im doing saturday.....:stupid:

One thing I learned long ago on these cars...if one side part fails, do the other side too, cause it won t be far behind.

I know this all too well...one trailing arm went out on the road and the other side along with u-joints did too. That's what I get for ignoring preventative maintenance.

One thing I learned long ago on these cars...if one side part fails, do the other side too, cause it won t be far behind.

:iagree: I replaced both sides. :D

One thing I learned long ago on these cars...if one side part fails, do the other side too, cause it won t be far behind.


Get this fish. Many years ago I was sitting in my house one evening and I heard a BIG bang out in the garage. One of my 25 year old garage door springs broke. I replaced it the next morning and THAT NIGHT the other spring broke. Amazing, huh? Just 24 hours apart after 25 years.

It's AMAZING how flippin' LOUD those garage door springs are in the middle of the night too!:food-smiley-019:

It's AMAZING how flippin' LOUD those garage door springs are in the middle of the night too!:food-smiley-019:


It'll sure wake you up. The springs that broke were the old style that didn't have the "safety" feature (they had "S" hooks only), and when they broke they came flying off and sailed 1/2 way across the garage. It was a miracle my car didn't get hit either time.

Get this fish. Many years ago I was sitting in my house one evening and I heard a BIG bang out in the garage. One of my 25 year old garage door springs broke. I replaced it the next morning and THAT NIGHT the other spring broke. Amazing, huh? Just 24 hours apart after 25 years.
See what I mean? Change both sides everytime,or call a tow truck.