1929 u joint

E

excalibur

Junior Member
I am in the process of tearing down my 29 roadster pickup. I pulled the trans and was looking at the front u joint. It has a very sloppy fit around what I call the caps. To me the caps are what hold the needle bearings on current style u joints. If I was to compare this to a current u joint and the way it fits, I would throw it away.
So my question is should this ujoint be tight like current ones are on cars or were they made with a loose fit. I am considering going with a complete new one just to be safe.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
 
Your U Joint is badly worn and should be replaced. There should be no appreciable play in a fully serviceable unit. The original joints use bushings rather than needle bearings. Quality of new joints varies considerably so see-before-buy if possible or talk to the seller first to ensure you are getting a quality unit. With everything apart, now is the time to change it.
 
It should slide side to side a lot it's not like modern one, look at rotational play and if it is the orioginal one that the rivits are tight ---some of the "new" ones don't fit properly
 
So I have just looked in Mac's auto and they offer a new U joint but it states that it will not work with one that is riveted. It so happens that mine has what I would call a riveted cage around it. I was wondering how to get the thing apart to replace it. Now I am not sure what I do to repair it. Suggestions anyone??
 
There are 2 types of U-Joint. The riveted joint (left photo) is not rebuildable, and should be discarded. The other U-joint (middle photo) is rebuildable.
 

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Mine is the riveted one and the rivets are loose along with everything else. Yes I saw that Mac's offers one so I will go that route. Thanks everyone.
 
I once repaired one that had 3 loose rivets and one broken rivet. Tightened the three and put a new one in and it lasted at least the several years I had that car before I sold it.
 
excalibur said:
Mine is the riveted one and the rivets are loose along with everything else. Yes I saw that Mac's offers one so I will go that route. Thanks everyone.
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Excalibur,positively do not go with MACS as there u joints are not formed correctly and will hit the clam shell. They will cause you nothing but frustration. Been there done that.:mad:

Go to Berts on Colorado.They carry the correct u joint.
 
Jim Baskin III Pa. said:
Excalibur,positively do not go with MACS as there u joints are not formed correctly and will hit the clam shell. They will cause you nothing but frustration. Been there done that.:mad:

Go to Berts on Colorado.They carry the correct u joint.
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I heard that also. In fact I have heard that all new u-joints are incorrect. Notice that most of the vendors don't offer a complete u-joint anymore, only the rebuild kit. Proceed with caution.
 
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Some of the new u-joints do not have enough radius to clear the inner housing.
 

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Yep, welcome to U Joint Hell ! I bought a U Joint, made off shore, from one of the national vendors and it was junk. It rattled from loose bushings, the machine work was poor, and the drive shaft spline was off center. Changing a U Joint is too much work to install a low quality unit so I did not use it. I put out a May Day and located an NOS unit made in Chicago in the 1960s which looked like a piece of art compared to the off shore unit. In the attached photo compare the off shore unit (L) to the Chicago unit (R). I was cosidering getting a Bob Drake "needle bearing" unit but found mixed reviews and decided against it. Some claimed the needle bearings were not compatible with the application since there is no radial freedom and insufficient mis-alignment to rotate the bearings. One recommendation was to use the Bob Drake unit after removing the drive shaft roller bearing. Others reported fit problems while some found performance totally satisfactory. I probably would have tried the Bob Drake unit if I was unable to find a quality NOS bushing type joint. Might try and find a good used unit - they are out there. Let us know what route you go and how it worked out.
 

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I could say something about these reproduction U-joints but if I do I will get BANNED. So be it...Enough said!

I think you get my drift!

Pluck
 
Jim Baskin III Pa. said:
Excalibur,positively do not go with MACS as there u joints are not formed correctly and will hit the clam shell. They will cause you nothing but frustration. Been there done that.:mad:

Go to Berts on Colorado.They carry the correct u joint.
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I should also mention that Bert’s probably also has good used originals. I got one from Steve last year and it looked and felt brand new.
 
I have several original U-joints, I believe they are all serviceable, otherwise I would not have kept them. I have sold a couple on the swap meet page here on Fordbarn. If anyone needs one and are interested I can hunt them up and send pictures. Contact me at frank55a@verizon.net
 
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