Quote:
Originally Posted by Diseasel300
This appears to be the factory driveshaft with a couple hundred thousand miles on it. No chirping here yet, but that doesn't mean much.
I had a U-Joint fail in a '96 Exploder with no warning. Went to back out in the morning, put the thing in reverse and heard a "clang". Put it back in park, had a roommate come out and look under the car when I put it in gear and he saw the whole DS jerk. Never gave any warnings, no noise, no vibration (although that car rode like a tank so you'd never notice anyway).
Unfortunately the Mercedes DS isn't one you can pop the caps and clips out and rebuild. Why they did that is beyond my comprehension, my brain has bled several times trying to understand the logic (or lack thereof) behind that decision.
I have the contact information for the DS shop in San Antonio from Sam (SD Blue) and I'll give them a call next week. At this point, I'd rather just cut my losses and swap the DS with one with a fresh rebuild. My time and sanity are becoming more valuable than the cost of the DS core!
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I've done a jillion U-joints over the years including the GM ones with the caps permanently glued in place. Those take oxy-actylene to heat 'till the goop runs out. My point - there's always a way. The worth of doing it at home, now that's another question.
I'm noted on here before that there are industrial balance companies that can balance the shaft in place. It's not free but isn't terribly expensive especially if you can get the car to a location they specify so they don't have travel time. People for some reason don't take advantage of this service and it's an amazing one. We used it many times at EPA to smooth out dyno shakes.
Dan