Suspect U Joint

BayouTacoma

Member
There is a suspicious noise in my front-end. I bought a 2008 4D 2WD TRD Sprts Pkg in March of 2013 with 86K miles on it and love it, great truck so far and hope it'll be till 300K or after. However, over the past 2 months I have been hearing an increasing popping sound in my front-end when I startup and make the first couple of turns, it especially happens when it is cold outside. I suspect it is my U joints telling me they may need replacing soon; however, I only do my routine maintenance and have not had to mess with bigger jobs before. I'm looking for some advice on how to check the condition of the joints and how involved changing them would be if needed. Thanks & take care - BT
 
Get under the truck and move the driveshaft around by hand. If you see excessive play in the U joints then they are probably toast. Don't mistake the carrier bearing for a U joint. That is a soft mount and will move around a bit.

I've only seen them changed on a vice. You remove the clips and push the joint out by the bearing cup with something like a socket into a larger socket.

You keep saying front end though so you might want to check your ball joints.
 
Well the u joints and the ball joints look good. It's kind of a strange noise like a metallic whoosh is the best way I can describe it and occurs right when I begin driving. I'm not going to worry about it unless it worsens. Thanks again
 
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