Broke a zero fitting!

Hello everyone!

I was hoping for a bit of advice on a mistake I made today. Not quite a mistake, but I was greasing the drive shafts today and I got to the most forward fitting on the front drive shaft where it goes into the front differential and that dang broke clean off. I think there may have been some pre-existing damage as it didn’t take much force. It broke off with the threads still in it so I can’t just spin a new one in.

What kind of repair am I in for? I thought I read somewhere that it’s pretty hard to find replacement u-joints for the main/rear shaft with most shops just replacing the shaft. Is this the case with the front shaft too? Or can I yank it pretty easy and replace the joint?

Also, am I pretty safe driving around in 2WD in the mean time? As in, does the front shaft not spin when in 2WD? I am worried about the grease slinging out and failing quicker. I can see some pink grease which I assume is factory because they were all pretty dry.

Thanks!

 

Replacement U-joints are easy to source. I personally use aftermarket joints. SKF is what I replaced mine with.

However, if the zerk is still in the joint, you can try to extract the broken piece and then you can install a new zerk. A shop can do this quickly for cheap. Much less labor and parts than replacing U-Joints.

You are totally fine driving for a few days. Some grease will stay in the joint and no force is being applied in 2WD. Just get it repaired when you can.

If you do pull the shaft to replace the joint, might as well do both. Just my $.02

 

That’s great to hear, thanks. I might pull the shaft and try replacing the zerk first. That shaft is hard to grease so taking it out might prove easier.

 

Good luck! I always have good results with ez-outs.