Bad Experience with Rockford U-Joints?
 

I got my driveshaft balanced and the u-joints replaced over the weekend. I just installed the driveshaft in my car yesterday and drove it about 50 miles total before I heard a loud clank on my way home from work today. Turned out the Rockford u-joints sides had completely sheared from the part of the yoke that contains the splined area that goes in the transmission. Anyone else have a similar experience or know if I may have done something wrong to cause this?

No, actually I've been rolling on some Rockford u-joints for some time now. I installed them myself though. Did a shop install yours?

Yeah, I got them installed at a really good professional shop. I just spoke with them over the phone and they said it's fairly common with the Rockfords. He said thats why they almost always want to go with a new driveshaft. They constantly complain to Rockford about the parts not being cast and having defective batches. Bottom line he said is there's not a good, reliable replacement.

Never heard that.

I'm running RDL's in my N/A driveshaft Turbo race car and not had any issues. *knocks on wood*

I've done several cars w/o problems.

What i can see is if the driveline shop didn't properly or fully machine the splines (staked portion) then forcing the cup in too tight would seize and destroy the joint. Installation error, not functional failure.

Haha yeah its definitely possible, but this shop has a great reputation. They actually do a ton of stuff for racing applications and even did my dads 69 z28's driveshaft. I appreciate the ammo for when I go there today though, hoping they'll pay for my towing too.

Unfortunately if you provided the parts, they're not responsible for it. There also could have been a disclosure about replacing staked in u-joints that may allow them to not take responsibility for it. I'm surprised you were even able to find a shop that would do that. I couldn't get anyone near me to replace them, all they wanted to do was make me pay over $500 for a custom driveshaft with replaceable joints.

I had them order the parts, and when they came in I just went home and did it myself. Took a little while to grind the staking away, but once it's out, they press out just as easily as a regular u-joint, and they're supplied with c-clips to prevent it from sliding out. Still zero problems.

yeah i doubt they'll cover everything, best case they may replace and rebalance it for free. i doubt either you or they can pinpoint the exact cause of failure, it could very well have been a simple faulty u-joint which wasn't their fault.

Yeah I got insurance to pay for the towing, but the joints were ones they supplied. They were saying the staked in replacements from Rockford are commonly faulty, something to do with lack of heat treating after casting them. It'll actually be done tomorrow afternoon.