hit oilpan pretty good, anything I should be checking?

[inVERt'D]

Wouldn't hurt to open up your u-joints and make sure they're okay. Do you grease them regularly?

[daniel_buck]

I do grease them, but I'm not sure if I've done them regularly enough, or enough pumps. I grease them probably every 2-3 oil changes (but on long trips, I grease everything every oil change, like when I drive across county). As far as how much grease I put in there, I usually put about 1 pump, I never know how much to put in.

What would I look for while checking the u-joints? The rear driveshaft is a Tom Wood double cardian driveshaft, I'd say it probably has 25k miles on it?

[inVERt'D]

The standard way for inspecting for loose joints is to try and wiggle the driveshaft. Also look for play in the t-case output and axle pinion while you're at it. There should be no discernible lateral play. You should use a small pry bar or something on the joints to make sure.

Next, you might try a few pumps of grease into each u-joint and seeing if that quiets it down. You want to fill them up, and if grease is squirting out from under the caps, you've done a little more than needed. Too much grease is messy. Too little will eat up your joints in a hurry. Grease the slip coupling on your DS too.

If things still haven't quieted down, you should consider disassembling the u-joints to check for worn or broken needle bearings, etc. You can get some new1330s on eBay pretty cheap. You should keep spares anyway. I recently got a new Spicer 1310/5-153X for my front DS for $12.50 shipped. Turned out to be made in China--figures.

[daniel_buck]

Thanks! I'll at least have time to do the visual/wiggle inspection before this weekend. And I'll pump more grease into them.

[inVERt'D]

Cool. I meant to suggest that you grease your joints more often. It only takes a few minutes to do it, and you have a garage, so what if you did it every month at least? Your steeper driveline angle WILL wear out joints more quickly.