opinions on U-joints

[jethro]

I had to shorten my front drive shaft. I am replacing all the universals as I go.
I got the front one first. (so far)
I got the Chinese one for like 8$
They had an American one for 28$
Both have grease fittings where the ford (spicer-180K miles) did not.
I don't expect to be pulling big loads-
Do yall think the extra 20$ per joint is worth it ?
Anyone have bad experiences with the cheaper ones ??????
I have 2 more to put in yet- I can save the Chinese one for a spare if need be !
(then I get to spend 100$ to get it re-balanced when I am done)
Opinions appreciated !
Tim

[jethro]

all ready decided to abandon the Chinese junk- I have come too far doing everything right to put in a part that
may blow up at the worst possible time.
I looked at the rollers under the microscope- they didn't look that great- kind of on the rough side I thought.....
I wouldn't dream of putting Chinese bearings in any other part of a vehicle- why would I want to compromise my reliability now ??????

Tim

[RumbleFish]

I sell lots of ujoints. You definitely get what you pay for.

[ellis93]

What he said ^^^^

But.....even the best are sometimes a bitch to get put in. Sometimes I even have to trim the trunion or cap surface to get a u joint to move free or get it to quit speaking. It sucks to have to pull a joint down two and three times to get a proper fit.

[jethro]

the first one I push out- it took most of the 30 tons that my press had to give. I would say that is too tight.
After I got it apart I lightly ran a brake cylinder hone in the bores to disclose high spots- which I relieved.
That seemed to help quite a bit.

[93cummins89]

Moog is the only way to go.

[matthewh]

I usually run greaseable Spicer units. Find the quality far superior to house brand units

[ofelas]

I like the Spicer Life non greasable units.

[u2slow]

I recently bought GMB ujoints from rockauto. Made in Japan. Cheaper than anything else. Going to give them a shot.

[Remps]

I recently installed quality gear greasable u joints on my w250 rear ds.They claim to be 30% stronger than spicer u joints, and were $17 for the front u joint, and $27 for the rear conversion joint. Hopefully get to try them out in a couple weeks.