U joint help!!

Good afternoon gentlemen.
I have a question regarding the u joints on a 2003 tacoma 4x4 extended cab auto truck. Couple weeks ago I got a rotational squeal from my driveshaft area that I originally thought was my trashed carrier bearing, ended up replacing that with a Spicer unit to no avail. Still squeaking going down the road. Was going to try and tackle the u joints as most of them won't grease up and/or only getting grease out of one of the caps. However I am having a hard time finding information on exactly what u joints are used. From what I'm researching the double cardan CV joints are different than the 2 outer cv joints? What are the 2 outer joints and the 2 cv joint in the middle? Could anyone lend a hand as I'm having a hard time finding what to use, not to be picky as well but I'd prefer a decent brand like Spicer that's greaseable and something that'll last. Any help or advice here on what u-joints to use would be terrific. Thank you

 

Not sure why your mixing your U-joints search with CV joint search, they aren't the same.
Simply plug in your truck make, model, and year into any search engine for u-joints and wah la, pick your favorite U-joint manufacturer and go from there.

 

The U-Joints in the double cardan are indeed different than the other two on the rear drive shaft. Unfortunately, the double cardan joints are not considered serviceable. If you want to read more, this thread has the details. Note- it does actually have a part number for the double cardan (Rockford 2540), but they are hard to find, and I think that after you read that thread, you'll understand why they are considered non-serviceable.

Try the others first. If that doesn't solve it, your best bet is to take the shaft to a shop, where they will remove the double cardan and replace it.

Spicer or OEM.

Also, watch the Timmy video on replacing the u joints. The yokes are tapered, and it makes traditional tooling harder to use. Timmy details out good solutions/work arounds for the problem.

 

The ones at each end are fairly easy to replace,
with the right tools.



and there's a good chance the rear one has water intrusion, and needles have turned to dust.

The center DC one you could get it apart, but would not go back together right.

Even the expert drive shaft shops will just cut out and put in new one...

Or they sell online ready made drop in ones made for your model/year and tranny type.......$500 ~ $1200......


1996-2004 Toyota Tacoma Drive Shaft - Replacement 409-054 - Rear - PartsGeek.com