I reinstalled my DS recently after being out to remove the exhaust (I have a SLP DS saftey loop) and noticed a small crossover piece in the u-joint had a broken tab on one side that slides down in a c-clip. I hope this descibes this piece. It is about 3" long and is very thin and flimsy. It has 2 tabs on each end that look like it is installed by pushing the tabs under the c-clips in the u-joint. Is this worth worrying about? Can you buy one w/out buying a new u-joint?
Thanks for any help here.

 

I believe that is the u-joint cap retainer clip so the caps wont fall off during install or storage. Not a big deal if its missing or broken

 

I believe that is the u-joint cap retainer clip so the caps wont fall off during install or storage. Not a big deal if its missing or broken.

Sean

 

What "caps" are you referring to? Thanks for the input.

 

I think he's talking about the caps (total of four) on the u-joint. They have little needle bearings inside of them, but you can't see that now. Two of the caps are pressed into the driveshaft (opposite each other on the u-joint) and the other two are connected to the rear end yoke by the u-bolts/nuts (also opposite each other). If you take the D.S. out, the caps that go to the rear end have nothing to hold them to the u-joint, so they like to slide off and scatter the needle bearings everywhere. This is why they would put that clip on that you're talking about. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it-just be careful next time you take out your D.S.

Joel