12 to 18 month wait for new vehicle!!

[ovrszd]

Only getting 50k miles out of it means there is a problem other than just a bad u joint.

Sometimes you gotta dig deeper than surface level.

And no, I dont work at a dealer. I wouldn't wish being a mechanic on my worst enemies. Horrible industry. Horrible pay.

My Son is a self employed mechanic. Makes excellent money. But has some really bad days sometimes dealing with new technology.

And yeah, jstpssng had a mechanical problem other than grease.

 

[sd455dan]

Yeah, NEVER buy a car or truck from Carmax or similar dealers. My son is an ASE mechanic, works for a nationwide "mobile mechanic" company. Most of those vehicles are "warrantied by third party" companies. The dealers do the bare minimum in prep before selling the vehicles, letting the warranty company to take the hit.
He has gone out to jobs that he couldn't believe how they tried to 'fix' the issues before the sale. He says about a 50/50 crap shoot to get a good vehicle. He says a lot of the customers return the vehicle when they find out how bad they are.

I considered buying from Carmax after my nephew bought a Chevy Volt from them.
I think for me to consider it would have to be like the nephews deal a LOW mile like under 30,000 mile 1-3 year old vehicle and then have it gone over with a fine tooth comb.
The Volt has been trouble free and has rolled up a lot of miles in the last few years.
That does not mean I do not believe the horror stories at certain facilities.

 

[Jstpssng]

My Son is a self employed mechanic. Makes excellent money. But has some really bad days sometimes dealing with new technology.

And yeah, jstpssng had a mechanical problem other than grease.

Then WHY was it always dry, until I started doing it my way? WHY were they only lasting a month, until I started fixing it my way?
And if I had more problems, WHY did it not manifest with more problems, before I sold it with 197k miles... and delivered it?

I was there, nobody else was. The reason it only lasted 50k miles is because I decided that rather than pull the drive shaft every month/4000 miles to grease the stupid joint; after initially packing it with grease I ran it until it needed to be changed again.

 

[sd455dan]

No. The joint was so tiny that they couldn't put a grease fitting in the center. Instead, it was on the outside end cap and grease wasn't getting to all 4 caps. As I said before I finally learned to take the drive shaft out to grease it; but doing that after work once a week got old fast.

The dealer who I went to a couple of times said the same thing; yet if the drive shaft was messed up it would vibrate going down the road. What I couldn't understand was why that wasn't covered under the power train warranty.

Way back when...
My J-10 Jeep truck with Q trac ate front U joints every 5k.
I was using GMB joints from Oreilly's. they had lifetime warranty. Finally went to NAPA and bought CR (Chicago Rawhide) and also a SPICER that they had in stock that day.
No more failures with either. GMB was selling soft steel, junk low quality units that just flat wore really badly.
Now I always buy SPICER if available, or for my RAM factory AAM joints.

 

[Oaktree]

What I couldn't understand was why that wasn't covered under the power train warranty.

Dealerships are very good at weasling out of fixing things under warranty. The '08 turdra I had for a company truck at my last job had several transmission/transfer case issues. Never covered because supposedly they were "electrical", not drivetrain problems. At least I wasn't the one paying for the repairs.

 

[Oaktree]

And yeah, jstpssng had a mechanical problem other than grease.

I'm inclined to agree. I've had 2 Dakotas with ~400k between them and never had any sort of driveshaft problems.

 

[ovrszd]

Then WHY was it always dry, until I started doing it my way? WHY were they only lasting a month, until I started fixing it my way?
And if I had more problems, WHY did it not manifest with more problems, before I sold it with 197k miles... and delivered it?

I was there, nobody else was. The reason it only lasted 50k miles is because I decided that rather than pull the drive shaft every month/4000 miles to grease the stupid joint; after initially packing it with grease I ran it until it needed to be changed again.

I'm not arguing. I'm simply saying, there was something going on much worse than the Grease zerk being in the cap. That's not uncommon.

Again, my 23 year old SD has 280K miles on it with 3 non greasable joints still intact.

We can paint that whatever color we choose. Fact still remains that there was a design flaw in your truck beyond the zerk location. Mine don't have zerks.....

 

[Jstpssng]

I'm not arguing. I'm simply saying, there was something going on much worse than the Grease zerk being in the cap. That's not uncommon.

Again, my 23 year old SD has 280K miles on it with 3 non greasable joints still intact.

We can paint that whatever color we choose. Fact still remains that there was a design flaw in your truck beyond the zerk location. Mine don't have zerks.....

OK, a design flaw I will agree with. Bad drive shaft as some others have said won't fly. I believe that it was the size of the joint itself; it was a little tiny thing, I don't recall how big.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

If it was a design flaw,the issues would be more wide spread and at catastrophic as you explained your was, it would be more widely talked about.

This is an issue with your truck and who ever worked on it

 

[ovrszd]

OK, a design flaw I will agree with. Bad drive shaft as some others have said won't fly. I believe that it was the size of the joint itself; it was a little tiny thing, I don't recall how big.

Those are common as well. I'll go with a driveshaft flaw that stressed the joint.

 

[ovrszd]

If it was a design flaw,the issues would be more wide spread and at catastrophic as you explained your was, it would be more widely talked about.

This is an issue with your truck and who ever worked on it

I've heard of driveshafts being distorted during a joint replacement.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

I've heard of driveshafts being distorted during a joint replacement.

Yes. Either bent or squeezed putting excess pressure into the cap or twisting it. Doesnt take much mis alignment to ruin one

 

[Jstpssng]

I've heard of driveshafts being distorted during a joint replacement.

That must be why it wasn’t getting greased. Bottom line; they are meant to have grease and don’t work well without it.
I’m just thankful I got 197k miles out of that “bent” driveshaft.

 

[ovrszd]

That must be why it wasn’t getting greased. Bottom line; they are meant to have grease and don’t work well without it.
I’m just thankful I got 197k miles out of that “bent” driveshaft.

There is a reason a properly greased ujoint, by your own admission, only lasts 40K miles. Way more going on there than the size of the ujoint. I'm thankful you finally got rid of the problem.

 

[Jstpssng]

There is a reason a properly greased ujoint, by your own admission, only lasts 40K miles. Way more going on there than the size of the ujoint. I'm thankful you finally got rid of the problem.

It was NOT properly greased. That is what I've been saying all along. I wasn't about to pull the stinking driveshaft every month to grease it. Instead, I pulled it once a year to change it.

 

[ovrszd]

It was NOT properly greased. That is what I've been saying all along. I wasn't about to pull the stinking driveshaft every month to grease it. Instead, I pulled it once a year to change it.

And I've been saying all along, there are 3 ujoints on my 23 yr old truck with 280K miles that have been greased once. When they were built. Glad you got rid of the problem.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Thats impressive!
I wouldn’t mind listening to you list what your concept of preventative maintenance is, because it sure seems to be working for you.

My followup question would be, do you have a lift? I surely would, if I did that kind of maintenance.

According to my wife, it's not really impressive being OCD. Most kids growing up had TV's, something we didn't have in our rural area. So growing up, I spent a lot of time in my Grandfathers shop (blacksmith), my Dad's shop (engine rebuild) and the hired foreman's shop (Farm Equipment Repair). He was a ratrod builder in his spare time. A great teacher of all things mechanical, hydraulic and working with anything with rotating parts (a lot of old farm equipment).

For several years after high school I was an electronic tech and a tune-up scope repairman/salesman, automotive hoist salesman and installer. Had the opportunity to train mechanics how to read the scope and utilize the diagnostic routines. I learned even more from the mechanics than they were really learning from me, so it was a good trade.

In the process of taking trades on automotive shop equipment I ended up with what most would call a complete shop. It wasn't though.
I had a Hunter alignment rack, a 9000lb offset two post Western Hoist. Two tune-up scopes, Accu-turn brake lathe, refrigerant recovery station, etc. etc. Most of this equipment is now at a trade school in Ensenada, Mexico
Preventative Maintenance.. About every 70 to 100 thousand miles I would pretty much go through the suspension, and final drive, replacing u-joints and would re-balance the drive shaft, wheel bearing repack/replacement. I would also rebuild the differential. In between scheduled maintenance there were always small semi-annoying things to work on.
I considered this recreational time.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I FINALLY received my 2023 Buick Enclave which had been on order since last September!

I stopped by the dealership 2 weeks ago to check on the order and found it hadn't yet been accepted for factory production. The salesman said it likely wouldn't make the model year production cutoff date and would be cancelled by GM.

He offered to try and find a vehicle, similar to the one I ordered, at another dealership. Since I need the vehicle for an upcoming trip, I told him to go ahead. Two days ago, the dealer called to say they found a vehicle EXACTLY like the one I ordered and it was ready to be picked up!

There was a side benefit to the deal. The vehicle I bought was manufactured before the termination date for some options that I wanted but were no longer available due to parts shortages.

In the end, I got a vehicle with everything I wanted, plus a few discontinued features, for the same price. This was a first for me since every other vehicle I purchased off the lot involved sacrificing one or more options.

Life is good!

 

[tradosaurus]

My daily driver is a 2002 Chevy crew cab, was a rental out of Canada when purchased with around 34,000 miles on it. Never had a payment, other than paying cash for the used vehicle.

Its on its second 6.0 liter engine (400,000 + miles), replaced some instrument panel wirings, soldered the 4 wheel drive switch as it got a cold solder joint. It rides nice and gets the good gas mileage that all those 6.0 Chevys get (13 mpg). Preventative maintenance goes a long ways in helping prevent "unexpected breakdowns". I expect this truck to be the last truck I own.

My daily driver prior to it was a 65 Ford F250 with over 500,000 miles on it.

My next truck will have to be on the other side of life!

Even simple PM's like checking all fluid levels and tire pressures monthly. When I have my car on the stands for an oil change it gives me an opportunity to check underneath the vehicle for any issues.