U joint issue?

Yep, bad ujoint.

 

You bet!

 

Holy crap that's a lot of play.

 

I've changed dozens of u joints. Never had a puller and neither has any mechanic I've known.

 

Replace. Period !!!

 

Another good way to check u-joints is to put it in gear and release the brakes on flat ground. Could put a chock 6" away from a tire if you wanted to be safe.

Crawl underneath and push on the truck with your legs to rock it forward and back. It will put more torque into the drive line and any looseness will show more.

 

You may require a puller to get the caps apart at the shaft end. If they fall out or the cap plates are broke off then the driveshaft will need a new end yoke. This puller works real slick on the stubborn ones.

Heavy Duty U-Joint Puller - Universal Joints - Tiger Tool

Make sure the caps with the straps are not loose and moving in the trans yoke or that yoke will require replacement as well. Otherwise, should be a straight forward u-joint change.