The U-joint bearing cups are "staked" and are not designed to be replaced. There are some reports here where the stakes are ground out enabling the U-joint to be rebuilt, and some "speed shops" that specialize in drive trains might do this, but the time and effort, as well as the risk of ending up with an unbalanced shaft, is probably as costly overall as a replacement.

 

There is a kit out there to refurb the shaft, the shop isn’t looking hard enough or they don’t want to do it.

 

You can get a Dorman drive shaft and it'll fit and perform just fine. I have one in my VDC and.its been putting up with high HP/Torque for about 7k miles without a problem. (the engine is putting out at least 450 HP - calculated from AWHP results and the loss through the automatic)

 

I wouldn't recommend a Dorman shaft. Not only have I personally had issues with their shafts, I have worked in the parts industry for a good few years now and see they have fairly common u joint issues. The joints in mine made it about 600 miles. They can be replaced, but for how much the shaft costs they should last much longer than that. Better off getting a single piece for how much it would cost to buy the shaft and upgrade the joints.

I usually just grab 'new' ones from junkyards. My original had 260k miles before the joints got notchy.

 

I wouldn't recommend a Dorman shaft. Not only have I personally had issues with their shafts, I have worked in the parts industry for a good few years now and see they have fairly common u joint issues. The joints in mine made it about 600 miles. They can be replaced, but for how much the shaft costs they should last much longer than that. Better off getting a single piece for how much it would cost to buy the shaft and upgrade the joints.

I usually just grab 'new' ones from junkyards. My original had 260k miles before the joints got notchy.

Early part failure can happen to any brand. I'm not a fan of Dorman in the least, but I had 50k on a Dorman shaft before the OB fatally bumped heads with an SUV. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. FWIW, my OEM shaft got 156k before the front joint lost all the needle bearings in one cup.

 

The Driveshaft Store, their shafts have replaceable U joints. I have one in my 05 GT wagon.

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