So what I thought was my brakes starting to go along with a wrapped rotor, turned out to be something totally different! At no point did it seem like a bad u-joint that is until this happened...

 

is that the only damage? didn't hit your transmission or exhaust?

 

Nope, scuffed up the heat shield on the catalytic converter and nothing else. I had just pulled out of a parking lot for cross a street I to a turn lane.

 

And do I see any grease? Uh no.

 

You got really lucky

 

First thing I noticed too. Looks dryyyyy.
​​​​​​​Sucks nonetheless.

 

Why did you think it was a warped rotor? I'm not busting your stones, but if you can provide some more symptom info maybe it can help someone else.

In my case, it was a persistent vibration felt through the steering wheel and eventually shook the whole truck, I assume when all the needle bearings fell out. It would be worst on heavy acceleration from a dead stop. It was most pronounced between 35-40 mph, and would smooth out at highway speeds. It would disappear in "float" conditions ie foot off the gas at speed. Interestingly, the symptoms front vs. rear were so similar that I removed the relatively fresh front shaft to examine it before realizing that I had wasted my time and the rear one was the culprit.

And I gotta say, I have a lot of respect for the design of the yokes. I had to beat the living **** out of them with a 10 pound sledge to get what was left of the universals out of them. How long did you drive it to get those results?

 

holy crappers! I had a vibration that actually kicked my 2wd/4wd shifter into neutral a few times - same deal but mine didn't bust apart - it was just really really loose - like the bearing parts had fallen out of the cups... replaced mine and it was good. probably should get under there with the grease gun again tho now - it's been a little while