First, excessive vibration is the first clue of worn U-joints, slip splines and even out-of-balance components. An excessively vibrating driveshaft can also cause accelerated wear on other drivetrain components, which can lead to additional issues down the road. Second, If the bushing or bearing that supports the drive shaft or the drive shaft U-joints wear out or fail, they can interfere with the unit’s ability to rotate correctly. This may result in unusual rattling, clunking, or even scraping sounds from underneath the vehicle.

Any noises such as these are an indicator that the vehicle should be serviced as soon as possible. When addressing a driveshaft problem, it is often best to replace the entire assembly versus just replacing individual components, which may ultimately only address the symptom and not the root cause. This video is sponsored by TrakMotive.