drive shaft lessons learned

[The_Handier_Man1]

From: Movinyou1  (Original Message)
Sent: 5/23/2005 3:28 AM

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of having a brand new u-joint snap. Defective for sure and NAPA made good on it with no questions asked. Even installed it on the shaft for me. The other damage on the other hand was Not covered by NAPA and let me tell you, when the rear joint goes, Bad things happen.
First, the drive shaft hit the frame and got a very large dent in it that wouldn't let the shaft rebalance. Had to be retubed. Cost: $135.00. Rebalance: $72.00. Keep in mind BOTH shafts have to be balanced as a unit. And the hardest of them all was the u-joint straps on the diff. that got distroyed when all hell broke loose. only about $6.00 but was a headache trying to find a match. Then the steel LP gas line that got whacked and cracked: $9.00. But because there are no unions in my Winnies gas line, about half had to be disassembled to get to the affected section. About 6 hours give or take a beer. Lesson learned-Installed drive shaft guard. Look under any school bus and see what I'm talking about. It will not only save the shaft but, the stuff undernieth too. thinking about 1 for the front shaft.