95 dodge ram u joint problem

[Sams47]

Hello everyone, haven't posted in a few years now and my latest project vehicle is a 95 ram 1500 I picked up a few months ago. It has a 5.2- 5 speed combo and is single cab. I had driven it a few times and I'm surprised the owner before me put kids in it- the steering was that bad. Anyways I've put a lot of time into it so far. I have just about everything to rebuild the front end. Brand new steering box, steering box stabilizer bar, pitman arm, trac. Bar, drag link, tierod ends etc. I also picked up a newer coil sprung Dana 44 set up (3.55s) with solid coil buckets and new balljoints and U joints. I have 5" coils, 6" lift bilstein 5100 shocks, etc. I have my axle and control arms bolted up and it's starting to look like a truck again. So I figured it was a good idea to replace the front driveshaft u joint that comes into the front axle. Bought a moog and a new stock strap kit. Here's what I can't figure out.... I pressed the u joint in with a balljoint press and everything went great. Nice fit. Now I put the straps over the u joint caps and with the bolts threaded all the way it won't secure it. My original axle out of the truck is near identical. I've seen these 2 size u joints online, I have heard of people replacing the u joints with spicers that are supposedly better quality. Should I swap my old axle yoke onto this one? I am lost just because when I pressed the u joint into the driveshaft everything lined up fine and fit snug. But it almost looks small inside the yoke. I am sorry for the humongous post and thank you to anyone who can help. This was supposed to be one of the easier Jobs hahaha.

 

[Sams47]

Ok I decided to go out this morning and have confirmed the u joint is too small inside the yoke- you can see a nice amount of daylight in between the u joint straps. I will be looking for a conversion u joint but this is bizarre because I really didn't think the two axles had any differences.

 

[Sams47]

And another pic...

 

[shaftman_05]

Looks to be the wrong yoke if that's the right u joint. That's also taking into account the cap shape.

Swap yokes from the old axle if it will.

 

[Merc225hp]

Right u joint wrong retaining straps.

 

[Sams47]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses. Did a little research and the guy who sold me the axle was super cool. Came out of a 97 1500 5.9 auto.... What I'm thinking is order a u joint for that exact truck and get the straps but I thought all of those parts were universal. I'll give it a whirl and if that doesn't work I'll try a conversion u joint and cross reference the two models and measure caps and all that jazz. Anyone know if the driveshafts are different in a 97 1500 5.9 auto vs a 95 1500 5.2 nv3500??

 

[Merc225hp]

All the same except length, I am using the org front Ds that worked on the Dana 44 same u joint for the Dana 60 that under it now.

Part info; Yokes are the same for those years.

04746738 97

04746738 94-96

 

[Sams47]

Awesome thank u. Do you have any idea of where I can get the correct retaining straps? If the yokes are the same, ordering new straps for a 97 would be pointless because they are the same right? Lol

 

[Merc225hp]

Mopar part number for the strap is 02781904 and J4006928 is for the bolts. You can use these numbers over on rockauto to cross reference to another make if so desired.

 

[MoparMagic'00]

merc what years am i looking for to use front shaft from 44 on my 00 going to dana 60s just try to narrow year down tia

 

[Merc225hp]

merc what years am i looking for to use front shaft from 44 on my 00 going to dana 60s just try to narrow year down tia

No need to change the front DS from what you have now. I have helped a few do this swap and they were all able to use the org DS with the Dana 60. The rear DS is a different story, if you use the org one then it has to be shortened.

 

[Sams47]

So, problem is solved. The original u joint I pressed into the driveshaft was a moog part # 254- application says it's for the cardan joint near the transfer case.... So I went back to advance and made sure they had the right one for the right application. I got a moog part # 316 and swapped two of those caps onto my u joint- straps work great and everything is nice and secure. If anyone runs into this problem, this worked for me.

 

[Merc225hp]

316 is right also known as 7290 glad you got it fixed.

 

[zombietruck]

Anyone know if the driveshafts are different in a 97 1500 5.9 auto vs a 95 1500 5.2 nv3500??

my first post - I think there are differences as I am looking for the rear piece of the driveshaft for my 99 and can't seem to find it - searches seem to want to know engine size and freaking "sub model" info.

sorry if this post is a dupe or innappropriate, RockAuto suggested clubs/forums to look for parts. it has been a frustrating week topped with this search today and now I have to post 50 times before I can start a wanted post. I am chatty but ... sheesh.

anybody have any ideas for finding this part on line let me know!

 

[Merc225hp]

Welcome to RF

Mopar part number is 52105871AA $516 fits year 1999, this shaft works with 46re auto code DGD, DDX 5 Speed HD Manual Transmission, DBB All Manual Transmissions.

 

[zombietruck]

thanks for that, looking for the rear (or the whole thing) I guess we should stick to my thread instead of hijacking this one. here is the link:
http://www.ramforum.com/f56/any_ideas_where_i_can_find_rear_driveshaft-58876/