Front drive shaft/joints

[GASNGLAS]

First, I;m a noob here---and I wanna thank everybody in advance. Been reading up on AWDs the past few days, and I haven't found anything that might address my problem

Bought a 2000 AWD Astro last week...nice van, 115k mi, no paint work, pretty clean. Drove it 200 miles home and was pretty impressed. Saw 21mpg@70+ mph. Not terribly shabby for a flying brick, IMHO.

All was acceptable EXCEPT for a howl that peaked around 55-65 mph---kinda like a bad pinion bearing or the whine of a bad gear set-up. You know the sound....howling under load...back off, and it quits, back on throttle and it whines some more. SO, I figured a fluid change in the diffs and TC would come first. A little looking around led me here(!) and I have some Auto-trak coming.....
Did the front diff/trans/oil/shocks/idlers.....and while I was underneath, I inspected the drive shafts......
The front shaft has some kind of CV joint-looking thing at the TC that's flat wore OUT---I mean, I can wiggle and shake that thing WAY more than I think it should move! A trip to one auto parts store gets a dumb look from the counter person..."It has U-joints, front and rear on the front drive shaft" he says "Same part number for both" whaaaa? I say thanks and hit the door. Next parts house, the counter guy lets me scroll thru his computer---lo and behold, we find a picture of the stupid thing. Not serviced. Huh? Okay, how 'bout a reman shaft assy? Nope, his computer says 'special order'...and he says that means dealer only.

Alright...if you're still with me(I go on a lot--sorry) What do I need to ask for or where should I turn? GM? Driveline shop? Junkyard?? I haven't called my GM parts guy yet---I figured you guys would actually be more informed I HOPE I can buy a joint...and maybe that might subdue my howl(long shot, I know)

Anybody???

[Cobra]

dealer only for a cv shaft for a stro no way cardone lists them as 60-1233 both sides and i must have 5 of them at work tho i'm not sure that's what the source of your problem is i haven't touched my axles yet

[LiftedAWDAstro]

You are talking about the front prop shaft. You can have it rebuilt at a driveline shop like Fleetpride. I had mine rebuilt at our local Fleetpride and they did an awesome job at a fair price. The double cardan joint can be repaired with standard u-joints and a centering ball and spring.

[Cobra]

oops seems i misunderstood again fun tho cardone sells the entire prop shaft too 65-9146 i wonder why the store said dealer only...

[LiftedAWDAstro]

oops seems i misunderstood again fun tho cardone sells the entire prop shaft too 65-9146 i wonder why the store said dealer only...

Awesome Cobra! Autozone has it for $268.99 plus the core. That is less than I paid to have it totally rebuilt at Fleetpride because I had it done in 2 different stages.

[snapple]

Rockauto.com has it for $247.79 + $53.90 core.
They have great service! Here's a discount code for them that's good til 7/22,
1045847635408 It's good for a 5% discount that anyone can use.
Welcome to ASV!

[Cobra]

that's sad both those prices are better then i get and i work at a warehouse that sells to jobber stores lol

[GASNGLAS]

Well THAT didn't take long! Thanks for the info, fellers

I had the GM parts guy on the phone this morning doing an order(I own a body shop, btw), so I hit him up about the shaft. Seems the General gets about 6 big bills for one He suggested a driveline shop that I was familiar with, so I was about resigned to a rebuild----then it hit me.....EBAY! Within 2 minutes a found a reman assy for $220 and 4 or 5 used shafts(two for $99 ea with lifetime warrantys--still scratchin my head over that ) I bought a used shaft out of a 68k Astro for 46 bucks Might not be grinning when it gets here, but I'll gamble...
Thanks for the help guys

[55stovebolt]

I know very old post but similar subject. I am new to the site but this is my 3rd van.
I have had a 89 Astro and a 96 Safari.

Currently trying to replace my AWD encoder motor on a 01 Astro. My problem is releasing the front drive shaft. I have seen it before where you unbolt the U-joint and just slide over. However, mine is like the picture. I figured once it unbolted it would just slide down but from the picture I can see it will not be that easy. What am I missing?

Thanks for the help.

[Stroverlander]

It should come off once you remove the four bolts. It may be rusted together, try soaking with some penetrating lube and tapping the edge of the flange with a mallet. There is a flange on the front diff so you may have to pull back slightly on the propshaft.



On the transfer case end, if the propshaft is stuck on the splined end of the t-case, the best to tap on that end of the flange with a block of wood or brass drift so you don't damage the flange. You don't want to just try pulling on propshaft behind the cv portion or can damage the cv.

I clean and lube the splines with heavy duty grease (high moly content is best but any auto grease is better than no grease) occasionally, helps limit the "clunk" when shifting in drive or reverse.



FYI:

For anyone else with front propshaft issues and not looking to spend the $300 for a reman Cardone 65-9146 complete propshaft assembly and deal with a core, Dorman 932-102 is around $100 for the cv portion of the propshaft and is listed for '99-up Blazer, Jimmy and Bravada but not the Astro even though they are the same part.



http://www.dormanproducts.com/itemdetai ... me=932-102

I checked one out at the auto parts store to compare to the original on my van and they look identical and smae spline count but I have yet to fit one myself, so consider that my disclaimer!

For a complete rebuild, sourcing a front u-joint should be easy enough though I don't have a part number handy for it. Anyway, less that half the cost of the Cardone reman for a DIY rebuild.

[55stovebolt]

Thank you for the response, it confirms what I thought. But was afraid i might damage something. With all the banging around, my encoder motor appears to be working. This is not my daily driver I think letting the thing sit probably causes more damage than driving it. The good news is my son took away my daily driver and now this gets a lot more use. The whole vehicle just sounds better now.