mmccarthy

I have a 1995 4WD F150, 5.8l with E4OD transmission.

I HAD a u-joint issue but because I neglected it I have much bigger issues - I lost the rear driveshaft (actually, it's not lost, it's sitting next to my garage at the moment).

The following is what I need to replace. I have questions regarding some of these:

• Transmission slip yoke - damaged when it hit the road
• U-Joints - the $20 fix that I promoted to a much larger bill.
• Rear driveshaft
  ** I've been able to locate a few driveshafts at salvage yards but I'm concerned about the balancing I've read about. Since I would be taking the driveshaft from a different truck, how do I get it balanced for my truck?
• Companion flange
  ** I believe this is the name of it but please correct me if I'm wrong. I've seen it called a U-Joint Saddle, a Companion Flange and even a Spline Flange. This is the piece at the end of the drive shaft that the U-Joint is coupled with. I believe the actual "spline flange" is what this attaches to on the differential. The U-Joint broke through one of the two rings.

Along with the drivetrain parts, I successfully wiped out one of my brake lines and my exhaust. Thank God for 4WD or I would also have a towing bill!

Any information you can provide regarding the balancing of the driveshaft and the naming of the "companion flange" would be greatly appreciated.

Besides the two comments mentioned above, is there a resource for these parts (slip yoke, d/s and flange) that might be preferred over the junk yard? I'm on a budget but I don't want to make any mistakes with parts replacement. If I had the funds, I'd replace everything with new parts.
Thanks!

Good old Bill

Slip yoke goes into transmission, companion flange boths to rear end. Driveshafts are balanced in a machine off the vehicle. Look in yellow pages for drive shaft shop for everything, avoid any chance of error, let them do it all. They will measure, build, and balance.