{"id":5234,"date":"2021-04-20T15:04:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T21:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/blog\/high-cost-of-ignoring-u-joints\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T07:10:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T11:10:43","slug":"high-cost-of-ignoring-u-joints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/blog\/high-cost-of-ignoring-u-joints\/","title":{"rendered":"The High Cost Of Ignoring U-Joints"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A u-joint may be a small part, but it plays an important role in the smooth operation of your drivetrain. U-joints should last the life of the vehicle, but sometimes that&#8217;s not the case. U-joints can go bad over time.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>If your u-joints go bad, it would be unwise to put off replacing them.<\/p>\n<h3>What Does A U-Joint Do?<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3982\" src=\"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ujoint-expanded.png\" alt=\"UJoint expanded\" width=\"640\" height=\"305\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A simple single piece driveshaft has two u-joints. The u-joints serve several different purposes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One serves as the link between the driveshaft and the transmission<\/li>\n<li>The other is the link between the driveshaft and the differential<\/li>\n<li>They help deliver the power from the engine to the differential<\/li>\n<li>For trucks and older cars, they allow the driveshaft to flex as needed so the rear axle can move up and down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Newer trucks often have two piece driveshafts. These usually have three u-joints, with one at each end, and one in the middle.<\/p>\n<h3>Signs Of A Bad U-Joint<\/h3>\n<p>If you notice one or more of the following signs, chances are good that one of your u-joints is on its last leg.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Squeaking or clunking noise when shifting from forward to reverse or vice versa<\/li>\n<li>Vibrations felt through the whole vehicle while driving at high speeds<\/li>\n<li>Fluid leak from the rear of the transmission or transfer case<\/li>\n<li>Fluid leak from the front of the differential<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Expensive Consequences Of Ignoring Failing U-Joints<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What Happens If You Don&#039;t Replace Worn U-Joints?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dV8HdIPlJQw?feature=oembed&#038;modestbranding=1&#038;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Ignoring a failing u-joint can lead to more expensive problems down the road. Let&#8217;s talk about some of the most common things that happen when u-joints finally fail:<\/p>\n<h2>1. Leaking Transmission<\/h2>\n<p>The vibrations caused by a bad u-joint cause the driveshaft&#8217;s stub shaft to rotate out of round. This causes the transmission&#8217;s rear seal to fail. \u00a0Fluid will leak out of the transmission. If the transmission loses some fluid, it can&#8217;t shift right. It would only do hard shifts. If the fluid gets low enough, the transmission will eventually fail. The same thing can happen to a transfer case.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Leaking Differential<\/h2>\n<p>A bad u-joint at the rear of the driveshaft can ruin the pinion seal, in the same way the transmission seal can be ruined.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Damaged Bearings<\/h2>\n<p>If they go on long enough, the vibrations from a bad u-joint can damage any of these bearings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The transmission output bearing (if there is no transfer case)<\/li>\n<li>The transfer case output bearing<\/li>\n<li>The pinion bearing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>4. Broken Driveshaft<\/h2>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"d00o6\" data-offset-key=\"atrr-0-0\">\n<p>A bad u-joint will eventually fall apart if it&#8217;s not replaced. When they fall apart, which happens when you&#8217;re moving, the driveshaft will become disconnected from the transmission or differential. This will damage the driveshaft, perhaps other parts under the car, and if you are lucky, you will coast to a stop. Then you&#8217;ll have no choice but to fork over hundreds of dollars for a tow truck. You&#8217;ll also have to spend a lot more money on an emergency repair. It&#8217;s amazing how such a small part can cause so much damage, isn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<h2>5. Serious Collision<\/h2>\n<p>U-joints tend to fail during hard acceleration. A catastrophic failure on a highway on-ramp, for example, can be a big problem. When that happens, your car won&#8217;t have power and possibly cause a serious collision with the car(s) behind you.<\/p>\n<h3>When In Doubt, Replace Your U-Joints<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3983\" src=\"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/replace-ujoint.jpg\" alt=\"Replace ujoint\" width=\"640\" height=\"374\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not sure if your u-joints are still good, replace them. Replacement u-joints are pretty inexpensive. It&#8217;s also something you can do yourself if you have the right tools. Here&#8217;s an overview of how to replace the u-joints in a simple one piece driveshaft:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Lift your vehicle.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the bolts holding the driveshaft flange to the pinion flange.<\/li>\n<li>Pry the driveshaft flange from the rear axle pinion flange.<\/li>\n<li>Pull the driveshaft out of the transmission housing.<\/li>\n<li>Remove all four c-clips from each u-joints.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the old u-joints with a u-joint press or a vise.<\/li>\n<li>Install the new u-joints in the reverse order.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>U-joints are instrumental to the smooth operation of the drivetrain. That&#8217;s why quality replacement u-joints make a world of difference.<\/p>\n<h3>Why GMB U-Joints Are The Best On The Market<\/h3>\n<p>GMB is a leading brand for u-joints. We manufacture world-class <a href=\"https:\/\/gmb.net\/maintenance-free-u-joints-save-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">maintenance-free u-joints<\/a> to OE specs.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some of the features that set GMB u-joints apart from the others:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We manufacture OEM u-joints for major automakers. Our u-joints are exactly the same as their OEM counterparts in terms of quality, fitment, and design. GMB u-joints are more heavy duty, though.<\/li>\n<li>All GMB u-joints are corrosion resistant.<\/li>\n<li>GMB u-joints are beefed up versions of OEM u-joints. They come with heavy duty needle bearings for greater load capacity.<\/li>\n<li>GMB puts all its u-joints through multi-stage testing for maximum quality control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gmb.net\/products\/universal-joint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more about GMB u-joints today<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A u-joint may be a small part, but it plays an important role in the smooth operation of your drivetrain. U-joints should last the life of the vehicle, but sometimes that&#8217;s not the case. U-joints can go bad over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[47,90045],"class_list":["post-5234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-undercar","tag-u-joints","tag-universal-joint"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43639,"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5234\/revisions\/43639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmb.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}