Recently I was driving my 94 Bravada down the highway and slowly started to hear a clunking noise. It started off soft and got louder....almost sounding like a a bearing was loose inside the wheel bearing. I knew my wheel bearings where getting worn on my 214,000 mile vehicle, so the wheel bearing on the drivers side was the first thing to replace at $90.

After the test drive, still heard the same noise. Brought it back in my shop, lifted all 4 tires off the ground and put it in gear while running. One of those things you absolutely fear doing in a shop, but I was all out of options b/c the noise only happened while driving.

The front drive shaft was the culprit. I wish it has been the rear U-Joints, but it was the front one, which is covered by some kind of heavy bell housing. Needless to say, when I took it in to be repaired, it was only $25 more to buy a re-manufactured unit that the shop had (luckily sitting on the shelf).

When I installed the brand new one, it appeared to be about 1/2" too short, but you have to stretch it just a little and suck the bolts up, then it fits perfect. I HIGHLY recommend getting some torque head bolts and you will need an impact wrench. I couldn't get them to budge by hand. Appears the bolts have some locktite on them from the factory. There are 4 torque head bolts on each end of the driveshaft, and of course, they are different sizes. The easiest way to get the bolts on the rear part of the driveshaft is to come from them on the top of the driveshaft. You will probably have to turn the driveshaft a few times to get all the bolts, and if you don't have the vehicle on blocks, you will have to drive the vehicle forward.

As always, good luck and watch your knuckles.