U-Joints and Drive-Shafts

  One of my friends has been having some trouble with a loud (and annoying) squeaking sound coming from their vehicle. After consulting with multible people it was decided that one of the u-joints was the problem.  So this afternoon I spent six hours helping them change the u-joints on their vehicle  ... I am now an expert on changing u-joints. (I say "helping", I was mostly supervising.. but I helped when I could:) ) Now, this could have been a thirty minute to an hour deal, but when things don't go exactly perfect they can take A LOT longer. Understatement. Once we got three-fourths of the way through it, we discovered that one of the parts required to finish was defective; so we loaded up in the mini-van (since their vehicle was currently un-usable) and headed to the local auto store to switch out the product. After we got back to the house we proceeded to finish the project; luckily this time things went smoothly and we were able to put the drive-shaft back into the vehicle. Thank Heaven the squeaking is now gone and so far things seem to be working like they should:) My friend is now happy and so am I:)
        This is a u-joint: