had to put truck in 4x4 today and could hear a noise from what i now discovered to be front u joint off transfer case, had to drive bout half km. it is screwed. if i am in 4by or 2 i am able to rotate front drive shaft a little while in park. is this normal. should be, right? you think i coulda screwed something up in transfer case also? will change out u joint in a couple days when i get chance. nother question, should i use 4x for the next few days or walk the half kilometer until fixed? probably walk. is this an easy fix? thanks

 

I heard the u joints are a pain to replace in the 3rd gen truck

 

Don't quite understand your question. Did you damage your transfercase because the u-joint took a dump? Doubt it. No, I don't think you should be able to rotate the drive shaft while in 4x4 park. Maybe 2 wheel; not too sure of your transfercase setup, tho. Since you'll be under the truck replacing the u-joint, drain the transfercase fluid. Check for metal debris. If all looks good, more than likely, your transfercase is ok.

 

attempted to take u joint out today. of course the caps on old joint are siezed on. after lots of spray and about an hour i gave up. managed to get truck to mechanic for tomorrow.

while driving my truck last couple of months i have heard a noise like i was dragging something. that noise is more noticable now. obviously the u joint. i thought while in 2 wd the front drive shaft didn't move, correct? if it does move a little and my u joint being as bad as it is, its SCREWED, what are the chances i ruined transfer case. i have used 4 wd a few times in last couple months, and now i have no 4x4, just grind while i tried to drive a little. hopefully its like this because of u joint.

 

The u joints have to be pressed out and new ones pressed in. You can take a ballpein hammer to the u joint which should get it to come out.

 

yeah, i tried hammering them out. wailed on her pretty good. just spoke to a neighbor who know a bit about dodges. he says that the factory caps on the joints are glued on. supposedly all you need to do is heat them up. wish my truck was not sitting in mechanics shop right now. would like to try that. next time.
what i am now consernd about is my transfer case a 4x4 shifting. guess i have to wait till tomorrow.

 

The front drive shafts do spin even when you are in 2WD. That's why you need to grease the front shaft every oil change.

 

i know there is no grease nipples on the " self contained self greasing " u joints that dodge installs. are there nipples on the drive shaft? haven't found any nipples under my truck. where should i be looking on an 03? was told that they are all self contained. i dunno
getting u joint that has nipple on it and will soon have nipples on them all

 

If you have a sticker in the engine bay on top of the metal crossmember near the radiatior and it looks like an emission sticker, then you need to grease the ball socket on the CV joint on the front drive line at the transfercase. That sticker will give you a general area to look for. Look in your owners manual too, mine was printed in the owners manual under one of the Maintenace Sections. Some trucks do not have this, but I believe it was not until the 06 model year. I am sure someone would correct me if I am wrong. To grease this ball socket you will need to go to Napa and get yourself a special long needle adaptor for your grease gun. I will post the part number later as I tend to leave this tool in my truck for just this reason.

Do a search and you may find some photos of what the drivelines zerk looks like. The zerk is actually flush with the center ball socket housing and can be easily passed over when the chasis is lube by a uninformed technician. As for your loose driveline, I think you have some bad U-joints and your transfer cases should be ok.

Shawn