D21 Driveshaft Interchange

[zm830101]

long story short, while on vacation in colorado 3 years ago, the rear u-joint failed on my 91 d21 king cab. a shop near by where it let go tried to help. they removed the old joint for me but it is a staked joint so they couldn't find a joint locally to replace it. through the power of smart phones i found a driveline shop about an hr away that had the rockford driveline joints in stock. driveline guy pointed out that the "helpful" shop actually damaged the driveshaft when they were cutting out the factory joint. said he could make it work but it would probably vibrate and eventually fail. $50 bucks later i was on my way home to georgia.

fast forward 3 years. i have now replaced the rockford joints myself twice and the shaft vibrates like hell over 50 miles an hour. i can't deal with it any longer but i also can't deal with spending $600 on a new shaft from nissan. i have read many forums and sorta figured out that later model hardbodies have serviceable u-joints. i have an oppurtunity to buy a complete shaft from a 96 model. if it is the exact same as my truck (i.e. king cab, 2wd, 4cyl, 5spd) will it interchange? also, will any other models interchange? local junk yards have been less than helpful with this so i appreciate any info ya'll can give.

[zm830101]

in case anybody uses the search function and finds this thread, i took a leap and bought the driveshaft out of the '96 model. i figured it was only $100. i nearly spent that on the rockford u-joints and center bearing last time so i figured this was worth a shot. it does indeed fit my '91 and it does have the serviceable u-joints. the only caveat i have found is that the center bearing seems to be placed a little further towards the rear on the newer shaft making it difficult to re-install the bearing support. it is however in the truck and working well. the truck hasn't been this quiet in three years. now i can hear all the other rattles and squeaks...