I've diagnosed a menacing vibration in my drivetrain to a bad U-Joint in my Rear Drive Shaft, at the Rear Joint is the major problem.

My dad suggested I replace both the front and rear U Joints just as a safety precaution..
However when I got under there, I realized something I hadnt seen before, there seems to be a notch taken out of the yoke on the driveshaft part, unfortunately.

I took a picture, I'm pretty sure its not normal, but my roommate says it could be alright, and that its easy to find a new driveshaft.. to which I'm also somewhat skeptical.

 

yes do both so u know u wont have that problem again, its hard to tell but how deep is that notch looks like someone else had a u joint fail and did that,

 

I can feel the spider bearing through that notch.. I think that due to the wear of the spider on that yoke without bearings or grease might have just caused it to blow out, or break out just from stress.. which makes me think I may need a new rear end of my drive shaft...

Edit: I'm pretty sure I am right in thinking this would be a yes..
but If it is a notch out that shouldn't be there; Would putting new universal joints in anyway without replacing the drive shaft yolk destroy the new U-Joints?

 

Otherwise I'd be out there right now pulling it out.

Are driveshafts fairly easy to come by? I live in Edmonton, AB
Any idea what one would cost?

 

depends on how much is left, is it like 1/8 cut down or 1/4 and how much is still there. there could be many different reasons for it to fail but it doesnt look like that spot is that new. here is my thoughts, if its just a small less then 1/4 of the total area and that spot is thinner then the rest. u should be alright to just put on new and go. now if its taken over 1/3 of it out then replace. now for getting one in your location im not sure what u have for wrecking yards and that but when i needed one and called around it was 80 or so. but found one on craigslist for 30.

 

Hard to tell what is going on/happened.

You more than likely will need to pull the shaft, dismantle to inspect. Make a judgement at that time.

 

Doesn't look too bad to me. I'd fix it, I have a welder(and skillz ta pay da billz).

If you're looking to replace it with a used one has all types for a 91 4Runner in AB. They're priced between $100-$200.

 

That's a fantastic website!
I found one with all the U-Joints and flanges still attached.. so I'll be getting that on monday
150$, not bad.

looks like it turned into an easy 8 bolt swap-out.

 

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