I went to Pep Boys to have the u-joints in my 2000 S-10 ZR2 replaced. It was becoming a more immediate need and I was considering selling the truck anyway. The tech put the truck on the lift for his own diagnosis after a trip around the parking lot and found NOTHING wrong with the truck. After a more thorough explanation from me, and a longer drive, he put it back on the lift and found the noise I'd been hearing, definately coming from the DS area.
He told me the u-joints aren't worn (no play in them at all), but they're BINDING, and he's seen it before, heard of it before, with S-10s with aluminum driveshafts. I had talked to Firestone about getting the repair done (wanted $200 p/l compared to PB's 150 and change) and they had a similar experience. They had replaced u-joints on an aluminum-shaft S-10 with the same symptoms and that did not resolve the problem, they had to replace the shaft. They later discovered that others had the same problem and this was some kind of known issue.
Here's my problem, I was hoping to replace the truck but can't find anything in this size category that I like, so I think I'll keep this truck for a little while. Do I really need to replace the DS to repair this? Has anyone "in the business" seen this before, is it a common problem with a TSB issued or something? I have a contact that's getting me a number for a local shop that builds shafts for race cars, he said they'd do it for around $300. It's my understanding that the GM shaft, that comes complete with joints and slip-yoke runs around $450. Which route do you guys suggest? I'll probably have the guy build it complete so I can just pick it up when it's done and drop it in some evening if I have it built locally.