I had a squeek while backing up and it got worse, so I took it into the dealership and they replaced one joint and said the others were good. ( To the tune of $211.00 ) Well 2 days after them doing this, I have the same noise again while going forward and a shuddering during take off. How can I tell which joint is bad? And what kind of job is this to replace, these things?

 

I believe dodge has an bigger Aluminum driveshaft available that uses bigger joints. Not sure on the 2005 but from what Ive seen late model trucks have bonded in joints (no C-clips) and to break the bond takes a large hammer and a firm place to support the shaft. A press works the best.make sure you grease the joints with some good red High temp extreme presure grease as the amount of grease that is in the new joint isn't enough to adequatly lube the joint for long.

 

Like he said. It also helps if you got a big vice, makes pressing the caps in so much easier. You can use a hammer to tap the caps in, just take it slow n steady.

One thing, if the failed joint is by the transfer case, your looking at another $100 to get a stock replacement (non greaseable). A joint from Napa (Precision Manufacturing) will not work as the shoulders on the joint, I guess you could say, make it too big and it will not fit.

Sucks I didn't take pictures last week, as I just replaced the one closest to the transfer case.

 

If the sound and the steering feels strange when turning and stops when going strait its a axel ujoint...Some times you can narrow it down buy spraying WD-40 all over one joint at a time and driving the truck this won't solve your problem but it will give you a clue to what joint is bad...I had to replace my drivers side front axel ujoint on my ram 3500 at 28,000 miles and the noise would stop when it rained and it got wet...Finally I thought of this WD-40 method and was able to prove which one it was...Hope this helps you out...

 

I've always found that if you crawl under the truck and shake the driveshaft it'll have some play at the bad joint, if the joint is really bad. Those joints are supposed to have zero play, so any is an indication of a bad joint.

 

What your saying is absolutely true, however if your hear a squeaking noise in a ujoint when the truck is moving the grease in the joint is gone and the joint will be wearing out on you...Most ujoint in todays trucks do not have grease fittings for you to grease...I would recommend replacing the ujoint with a Moog greasable ujoints...

 

Yup, just don't be like me my last time getting a new set of u joints. Bought new greasable joints, and a grease gun at the same place, got home, beat the f*****s in and reinstalled the driveshaft, THEN I thought, oh yea..grease. Except my grease fitting on the gun was too large to get to the nipple of the joint. Which reminds me...I still gotta grease it. Hahaha