After doing some research last night it appears that swapping out the factory ujoints for greaseable is about $75 and 2 hours. The NG centering ball for another $50 doesn't seem be an issue if you're prepared to change it every hundred k (I guess). I think I'll rebuild a factory driveshaft and maybe keep the aftermarket as a spare. Despite the pics above, if you're wildly modded it seems the TW driveshaft is the way to go, but I think a rebuilt factory unit is next best and the cheap aftermarket alternatives are a gamble not worth taking based on many reports here.

By the way, it occurred to me that a contributing factor may have been the OME HD suspension I installed a few weeks ago. Despite claiming to be 2", it looks closer to 2.5 over stock, and side by side it's definitely taller than the Terrafirma 2" kit in my other truck. I'm sure this articulated the shaft into a new range of motion after about 25k of stock height, and maybe that caused the centering ball to operate in dry areas that hadn't seen adequate lubrication.

 

Another option- https://gbrutah.com/shop/drive-shaft...-driveshaft-2/

 

2 in of lift with a good double cardan drive shaft is not an issue. Hell, I’m at 4in with a GBR drive shaft and have no issues.

What I mean is I don’t think your lift really did much to where your TW driveshaft really.

i have had 2 TW fail though. 1st was my fault. 2nd was greased every oil change

 

OK, so that loose pin with the spring in the TW pic above is from the nose of the driveshaft. It likely got sheared off by excess articulation, and perhaps a manufacturing defect had something to do with it.

So I got this far. How do you get the centering ball out of the yoke? It rotates all around but the collar is preventing it from slipping by. Do you have to pry that out first? It's hard to get a pick under it and it seems pretty solidly pressed in.