I have a 2004 f150 and i hear a clunk everytime i put the truck in reverse or drive. i think its my u-joints so i got some new ones and i took my driveshaft to a machine shop to have the u-joint installed and they told me that no universal joint will fit and i will have to get a new driveshaft from ford any thoughts on this being true???

 

The machine shop speaks the truth did you check to see if they had slack in them? Drive shafts are not cheap?

 

yea they did i tried hitting it out myself but cant get the u joint cap to pop off i dont no what to do now:/

 

Ya you have to buy the whole shaft. The thought of that pissed me off so I took it to a driveshaft shop and had them build me a shaft. Now all my u-joints and slip yokes are replaceable

 

I am looking into this myself. I looked in the shop manual and there is a "service kit" required to replace the u-joints. The issue I am running into is that I cannot locate a "service kit." I spoke to a local truck shop that rebuilds drive shafts and they said the part from the dealer should come with the necessary kit. I have looked at 3 different u-joints that are supposed to fit and they do not have the service kit. I am getting ready to contact Ford directly and attempt to figure it out.

 

Many of the driveshafts on the '04-08 F-150s are non-maintainable.

U joint failure =new shaft needed.

If someone knows of a good reliable shop that builds the shafts, post it up and they may get a lot of business as time goes by.

 

I have actually found a part number that comes with the specific tools needed to remove and install new u-joints on the staked in factory units. 4L3Z-4635-AB. I will get one monday and if it works, I will be glad to let you guys know.

 

Wow I didnt know the U-joints were not replaceable. Subscribed, let us know how the kit works out.
Are all the 04-08 F-150s like this?

 

I just noticed that Moog makes replacement u joints for my 06 F-150 that are greaseable, how would they work if you cant replace them in the factory drive shaft?

 

i replaced the ones in my 04 the part store has a replacement joint that comes with a cutter i was thinking they where 70 or so made by napco and part number is 3-0488