U-Joint Interior Housing Wear

D

don12345

Junior Member
I have removed the U-Joint from my 1931 Model A for the first time. Probably only the second time since the car was new. The inner housing shows wear around the exterior. It looks like it has been hit hundreds of times with a ball peen hammer. Wondering what is causing this and whether I need to replace this part.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,


Don
 

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Lack of lubrication? It looks like spalling which occurs when a metal if under stress and brakes off below the surface. Under extreme pressure the maximum shear stress is under the surface and that causes chunks of the metal to break off. I would recommend replacing it and using some high pressure grease on it when you re assembly the joint.
 
I suspect that is damage from grease that turned rancid. Such greases were in common use before WW2. The grease was primarily made of animal fats, and when it turned rancid it became corrosive. I have seen cans of this grease on a shelf where the tin was eaten away by the rancid grease.
 
You are correct. It is spalling, and there is similar damage on the torque tube, though not as visible. I will try to source a new part. The car did sit in my grandfather's garage for many years before my father revived it around 1980. He owned the car since new. I suspect that this happened when he got in the car and drove it to Bar Harbor, Maine back then.


I will try to source a restored part and I guess I may have to have the torque tube bearing surfaces refinished over the winter.



I do have one additional question: The radius of the outside of the U-Joint Interior Housing appears to be greater than the end of the torque tube, so when you place the 2 parts together the female torque tube part rides on the outside edge of the larger radius male interior housing part. I would have expected these parts to mate exactly with a thin film of oil between them.


Did the dimensions of these parts change over time, do I have the wrong interior housing part, or is this discrepancy part of the design?


Thanks,


Don
 
There are pieces of felt, maybe 3/8” square by 6” or so long, that install in channels just inside the ends of the clamshell halves. When you bolt up the clamshells these felts form the grease seals that prevent grease from migrating outwards from the u-joint. They also stand the clamshells off of the torque tube so there’s no contact. Be sure those are reinstalled when you put it all back together.
 
Looking at the assembly diagram again, I think the load from the rear axle comes down the torque tube and pushes the cup at the end of the torque tube onto the interior housing, and that force is currently not applied evenly across the two pieces. It falls primarily on the outer edges of the cup. This may be causing the spalling. I will put it together for the time being, but it does not look right to me. Thanks.
 
Looks like like of lubrication to me. Thrust from the torque tube I s applied to that cup. The felts are there to catch, hold, and lubricate with the 600w that works it way back from the transmission and is captured in the felts. I think it is galling more than spalling.
 
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