Recently lost a cap from my farthest back U joint and went through the process of replacing it. I've only had the truck a few months and wasn't surprised that at 170k and on the coast it needed a new one. Install went fine until I went to bolt the driveline back up to the yoke and the straps on the yoke didn't fit the caps on the joint. WTF!? The straps don't appear to be stretched and after looking over the old u joint the caps match the holes on the drive line and the caps on the new u joint fine. The caps that would go into the yoke on the old u joint are noticeably larger in diameter and the caps for the yoke on the new u joint are no larger than the others. I've never seen or heard of anything like this. Am I just clueless or could this be the machinations of some backwoods methchanic? Truck is an 03 z71 off road package with a gov lock diff. Has anyone ever heard of or seen anything like this before?? Ill take photos and post when I have a chance.

 

Never seen that before but I haven't worked on the underside of a newer Chevy pickup before either.

 

The clerk at oriellys grabbed the wrong U joint.. part no. 354 instead of the correct 355c. Incase anyone is wondering though the U joint has 27mm dia caps on the shaft and 28mm caps for the yoke. Also has an internal and external clip.

 

That's why I wouldn't even trust them to check the battery out. These guys are not mechanics, and they probably don't make a decent wage.

 

Thanks for the Info, I will be replacing all of mine soon, it's "that" time.
Scott

 

glad I can answer the questions no one asked! I needed a press, needle nose, and 11mm combo wrench by the way

 

My Bench Vise Usually does the trick.