The U joints on the front driveshaft of my 2011 F350 were making noise so I pulled them out to replace. I discovered what is called a Cardan joint between two U joints of the rear knuckle to form a CV joint. I'm thinking I should probably replace this while it's apart, it must be worn as well. I found a video on replacing one on a Dodge that looks identical. I've found a replacement part for earlier F350s but I'm coming up empty on my year. Do any of you have information that would help me?
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...arged,1446481,drivetrain,universal+joint,2392
Steve, That looks to be a Spicer 1350. if your flange yoke casting is good, you can get by with a Spicer 10018440 double cardan cv ball seat repair kit. I can’t get that to cross to NAPA for some reason. The U-joints should be 5-1350x if the bearing caps are 1.188”. But, There are a couple options.
I was wondering how many guys do away with the cardan joints? If i find one in bad shape i will cut it apart so its just 1 U-joint then lengthen the drive shaft. I have done this alot and saw it was done hundreds of times.
Thanks!! I had already purchased the U joints but didn't know about the Cardan joint until I started taking it apart. I'll see what I can find using those numbers. I wondered about that too Doug. My '81 F350 didn't have the CV joint, just a U joint at each end. Anyone know why this is better? My guess is smoother?
What was explained to me was that they are a constant velocity joint. Was told that as the U joint is out of straight line, the circle the caps turn makes the velocity of rotation get faster at the top of the rotation that at the bottom which can cause vibration. The double carden joints enable the rotation circles to always be straight as you turn the steering one way of the other. It reduces the possibility of vibration. The second mine I worked at had some Ford 4X4 trucks and all had that joint. We were operating in the mud every day from the end of September till the end of May. We rebuilt those front axles at least every month and many times every two weeks. After the first winter all the mine trucks turned into Toyotas. The Toyotas were the straight sealed axles back then and would go the entire winter without issue.
Its hard to understand just how a u-joint works and once you do how do they last. I have worked on alot of pickups used in feed lots and none of them seem to last very long in the mud. Now their using Polaris Rangers they will not take the mud there like my old boss said about trucks "If you spin out then lock the power divider in and you spin out agin stop and get a tow because all you are going to do is wast money" The rangers are made for fun not work and if they were builf for work they would be to heavy for fun.
John are you talking about that silly attempt ford made at a independent suspension in the 80s?
No, these were a regular axle housing that were open just inboard of the steering knuckle and you could see the U joint turning when the truck was moving.
I always thought if i was a farmer or some one that relied on alot of driveing were my pickup didnt last i would figure out another way.
We did, we got Toyota pickups.
Warning dont say Toyota and farm in the same sentence around any of the shops were i live. My boss has some he hates us. The old strait axles were good but the newer ones are another deal.
The biggest deal with a toyota is the name may say toy buy they cant be treated like a toy or the fun is over.
I've had three Fords and three Toyotas. The first two Fords were a 1964 and a 1966. I think those were some of the best pickups ever built. My last Ford was a 1984 with the 6.9 diesel. I really liked that pick up also, but diesel got more expensive than gas and my 1984 Toyota at the time got driven every day. The Ford ended up getting less than 5K miles a year. I let it go and have run the Toyota brand ever since. I've never changed a starter or an alternator in one or even had a dash light go out. Never been left stranded because the glow plugs would kill both batteries. Never had a wheel seal leak just because the rig was sitting. Always got 20 miles to the gallon on fuel. Got well over 200K on the first two Toyota pickups before the first got hit from behind on the freeway and the second one the moon roof started leaking. There are no ouble Carden joints in any of the Yotas that I've had to work on.
I would like to see how they test now ideals. I think they come up with something and after testing and spending alot of money they have to let it go onto production no matter if its good or not because their in to deep. I was talking about using a tractor more or figuring out ways to not make so many trips into feedlots.
The first 4x4 Toyotas in the US had dual cardan joints in the front driveshafts. I would have sworn the '84s did too. I did like Doug said on my '82, just make it a single. Never had a problem.
My bad! I never had to take one apart. The axle knuckles were enclosed.
Well I did some math and between the cost of the parts and the travel to get the replacement cardan joint it turns out cheaper to buy a new driveshaft complete and just bolt it in. Bugs me to say that but it seems we're a throw away society. Fortunately the u joints I bought are unopened and can be returned. I appreciate the help here!! A side discussion on Toyota pickups has developed, I drive by the local Toyota dealer almost every day. Every few weeks a truck delivers a stack of pickup frames and a second stack of used frames stands next to it. Rumor has it the frames rusted prematurely and Toyota is replacing them all under warranty. I can't imagine the cost involved in this. These stacks are about ten high and this has been ongoing for a couple years!
I replaced the frame under my '82 in '92....
What are the Toyota pickups that you speak of? The Landcruiser has a rock solid reputation for reliability and endurance here. The Hilux, a little less so, but is the highest selling vehicle in OZ at the moment. We don’t have the Tacoma in any number.
Good grief they haven't learned yet.
Toyota's have always had terrible rusting issues, not just the body but the frames too. Know of one that was meticulously cared for and maintained since new but had to be parked. Not much rust on the body but the frame at the rear shock mounts was completely rusted out.
The Toyota pickups we were talking about were basically Hi-luxes, but they had no marketing name in the US. I don't know what the Tacomas really are, if they are US only or not. I stopped being a Toyota Guy in the late '90s.
My brother ran 250k miles on a 2006 Tundra no problem. It passed the rust inspection recall somehow. Others not so much. Some for sale ads indicate the frame has been replaced here in northern Illinois. The body on his truck held up surprisingly well.
Salt your road, give them the rust test. (in Aussueland)
Must be what it is kenh...certainly no salted roads here. We have a collection of 5 landcruiser utes of varying ages...the oldest one turns 30 next year...and a twenty year old Hilux with hardly a hint of rust between them. I’ve never heard of them being any more rust prone than anything else over here, even on the coast.
Alberta used/uses very little salt on the roads and in the 80's and 90's Toyota trucks were about the worst on the road for rust.
Haha you can see the etching from the salt at intersections here.
A couple years ago they tried using a liquid type deicer with salt in it instead of the coarse sand/gravel. It was horrible! If it got below about -10C it was like they watered the road and it turned into a sheet of ice. It did cause more rusting on vehicles too. Thank god they voted to not continue using it.
i don't know where you got your information from, but anywhere around here they use sand and reject sand and mix it with calcium. its way worse than salt ever was. it picks up humidity from the air and also stays wetter longer. i see the super b calcium haulers on the highway regularly and get mad all over again
Vehicles from Ontario were always known for extreme rusting issues because they used more salt. I found the info below from the City of Edmonton. The calcium chloride brine by itself was horrible and I think mixing it with the sand is a relatively new process. The sand with rock chips works the best. I've heard it can be reused 3 times before the chips are too rounded to help much. What is very evident is they don't put nearly as much sand down as they used to. They are always complaining they are over budget for snow and ice removal. They waste money on stupid stuff and the work that needs done is neglected. They used to cut the grass along road sides, freeways and empty lots. Now they planted a bunch of tree's along freeways trying to make it look better but the grass isn't cut so the tree's defeat the purpose. They used a zillion paving stones along the Whitemud Freeway and what a waste of money. They're buckling, lifting up, missing and have weeds growing in-between them. Looks like crap. The city overall looks very unkept to what it used to be. "The sand mix is a mixture of sand, salt, rock chips (which are being phased out of the mix) and calcium chloride brine. The City follows a matrix for determining the specific ratios of sand, salt and chip required to combat icy or snowy conditions depending on the conditions. Edmonton is one of the lowest salt users of Canada’s major cities - salt accounts for only 12 to 18% of the materials applied to the roads annually."
The boss just bought a toyota that has had a replacement frame. I thought they would have made them better and not put so many holes in them but they didnt look any diffrent from the old frame.
where i live i always get rock chip damage on my vehicles from some of that reject stuff that LaPrairie uses.i run bug screens or winterfronts on my vehicles year round just to keep the grit from damaging the a/c condensers. apparently the max spec is 4mm but i have walked out on the highway and looked at it after they have applied it and there is a lot that is in the 6mm size. on the local river valley hill they seem to use bigger stuff than that. even though i wash my trucks as much as i can, i live just off a secondary highway that gets a shot of calcium/sand/chips whenever there is any white stuff on the road and repeated applications until it all turns to slop and they can scrape most of it off. then it takes week to dry the surface. combined with calcium chloride dust control that the county uses on the side roads, my vehicles and equipment all corrode and rust prematurely. i wish our county did like Edmonton did and use alternative methods/mixtures. if people nowadays could/would drive responsively, we wouldn't need so much ice control. our warmer winters and mid-winter temperature fluctuations don't help either. it was rare to get freezing rain 40 years ago but its the new normal now. about 3 yrs ago we drove through freezing rain near Dawson Creek at approx. -20c. ***? i apologize for the rant but the calcium/salt/sand/chips subject always makes me mad
Steve, were you able to get the drive back into your truck? I always wondered why they left that area in the axle housing open?
Once I started pricing out parts it turned out to be cheaper to put in a replacement driveshaft. It bothers me to do it because there's nothing wrong with the shaft but that's just the way it is. It's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow and will just be a bolt in. Discovered the ball joints are shot, I'll be replacing them this weekend.
Good Luck on the repairs.
Thanks! I'm hoping there are no snags along the way!