About a year and a half ago before I got into DIY and knew better my U-joint went on my driveshaft. Fortunately I could feel it and I took it in. They replaced my U-joint but I have no idea if they did the rebuild properly. I don't recall being charged for the centering ball. Now I've been driving with this driveshaft for 40,000 miles. Should I take it to be rebuilt properly? Is this driveshaft just a huge repair waiting to happen? I'm going to call the shop and see if they have the records and see if the mechanic still works there.

 

If the centering ball was replaced, it will fail sooner then later. The only way to tell is if the shop keeps their old work orders or tear it apart.

 

visually you will see a grease fitting like this on the end cap of the u-joint (Thanks Spike for the pic)


or one like this

 

I will look for a grease fitting

 

Some u-joints also have the grease fitting coming from between the 4 arms. I doubt you will be able to determine if the centering ball has been changed, just by looking at it.

 

Yeah I doubt I will too, I called the shop and the girl is looking for the record of the repair, not holding my breath though.

 

Isn't that type the one illustrated in the second pic? or is there one i don't know of?

 

I only see one picture!!!!!!

 

Oh ok, Makes sense. well i updated the picture with another so maybe that one will show up.

 

If it's been 40k miles and you have to look to see if it has grease fittings, it's obvious you haven't been lubing it. If you've been taking it to Jiffy-lube or somewhere like that, they would most likely not lube it properly, unless you told them to, since the stock propshaft only has one fitting and they probably wouldn't look for others. That means it's time to rebuild it again. U-joints should be lubed at maximum every 5,000 miles. I do mine every 3,000 when I change my oil. This time specify that a new centering kit should be installed as well.