So this morning I had to meet with our former apt manager to complete our move out inspection. I won't bore you with the details of that (but if you've ever been there, you can imagine how it went
), but it took about 15 minutes to do. I had Tender with me because I was on my way to my parents house to work on my truck (more on that in a minute) and a local gas station was offering 3 Monster energy drinks for 5 dollars. At $2.50 individually this quite a deal, one I couldn't pass up, so I bought the 3. As I was doing the move out inspection with my former landlord, I had to leave Tender in the truck as there's no pets allowed in the buildings (tho somehow the manager has a dog. 
) Afterwards, I get back in my truck to find that Tender had punctured one of the unopened cans of energy drink with his teeth. Smart move on my part... But, I don't think he had too much of it. Most of it was spilled into the plastic bag so it didn't get all over the place, but I think he had just enough to get him rowdy because he kept jumping all over the cab trying to see out the windows and lick my face, etc. But once I got him to my folks house and he got to run around, he's calmed down. It'll be a long time before I make that mistake again... I hope. 
Tip #2: When purchasing new U-joints for your vehicle, make sure they're the right size before installation.
This seems obvious, right? Well, the thing is, I bought these U-joints about 3 months ago. I had every intention of getting them installed ASAP, but with my wedding and then a surprise trip to Vegas and then a shoulder surgery that's had me down and out for the past 8 weeks, I just haven't had the time or opportunity to do so. Well, yesterday I finally decided that I'd get around and install them. My shoulder's been feeling good for about 2 weeks and it had to get done. So after my physical therapy appt yesterday, I got to my folks house around 3. Got the driveshaft removed, got the old, factory original U-joints removed (after 17 years of use you can imagine how easy that was
) Then I proceeded to install the new ones. I began with the rear joint. Got the first half installed into the driveshaft yoke, then go to install the other half into the rear end yoke, and can you imagine what Murphy had in store for me? The bearing caps were too big!!! Of course, by this point, it's too late in the day to run to the parts store and buy a new joint, so I just had to call it a night and drive my dads old beater truck home.So just this morning I got the right joint, came up here, and proceeded to remove the new joint that was already half installed. It was tricky, but what I did was to take the old bearing caps from my old joints, place them on the shaft, and then gently tap out the new bearing caps that went with the wrong joint. I cleaned it up really good, put everything back in its packaging, and if I can manage to find the receipt I will attempt to return it. You really can't tell that I had it half installed, so I'm hoping I can get away with it. But, having been 3 months, I'm kinda doubting it. But I'll try anyway.
So I just thought I'd share those tips with y'all in case you ever find yourself in that same situation.
