Driveshaft rebuild - no centering ball
 

So i took the driveshaft over to my mechanic yesterday along w 3 ujoints (Precision#344) and Precision Centering Ball. So i get a call back after about 2.5 hours and he tells me its ready to go (to my amazement). I get there and the Ujoints have all been replaced and greased while the Centering Ball was never replaced. He tells me that it didn't need to be replaced. (i assume he must have 'shyed' away from the task). Is this a deal breaker?

yes, because now you have drive shaft that is only 2/3rd rebuilt.
Ps the center ball is the only hard part of the whole job

i was afraid you'd say that. So an old center ball can inflict the same type of damage to a transfer case? On the bright side, can i assume that the double cardon will come out a little easier?

A "failure" of the centering ball isn't as dramatic as when the u-joints let go because it dosn't hold the shaft sections together. It just wears out which in turn wears out the u-joints faster. You will notice a vibration if it is shot. I'd take it back to him and tell him to finish the job. If he can't handle it, take it to a driveline shop and have it balanced at the same time.

My local LR shop claimed a warn centering ball is what causes u-joint failure.

It certainly an expensive gamble to leave it in there.

roger that. thx guys, i'm not going to risk it. I'm going to try to find a driveline shop. Funny thing is that i have two LR shops out by me and they either A. don't want to rebuild the drive shaft and would rather install a new one, or B. Use their own parts (since i told them i already purchased the parts) and charge me $175.

The centering ball forces the two u-joints to operate at the same angle which in turn makes the double-cardan joint a constant velocity joint. If it is worn, the joints will be at different angles and the acceleration/deceleration of each joint while it rotates won't be balanced by the other which creates vibrations. The vibrations will likley add stress to the driveline, but it mostly adds stress to the occupants.

I found this great link which has some excellent drawings in it showing how they function. Pay attention, there is a test at the end: http://webtools.delmarlearning.com/s...77532_ch06.pdf

That mechanic is a fool and should never be used again. How did you pay him? If by credit card I would suggest you do a stop payment on him today until he fixes it.
Also at $175, he way over charged you for just u-joint replacement

went to a buddy of mine and he only charged me $60(under the table) to replace the ujoints. Just got back from picking up ALL the tools (swing hammer kit, ujoint remover tool, etc) the only thing i don't have is a vice...is this rebuild going to be a 'tall order' without one?

On another note....I called a drive line shop and they told me that they recommend using a new driveshaft instead of wasting time on rebuilding one since it will never be balanced w the new zerks in place. Is this true?

Welcome to Washington DC!....SHAFT literally

no; it is not true that they can not balance. So you don't want to be going there either.
You can use a large 6-8in C-clamp I've done it but its a pita, maybe use one to clamp the DS to the bench and the other to press the joint caps on and off.