universal joint wear ?

J

JimCaseSC

Junior Member
Hi,
I'm getting their it's just a slow process!!!!!!

I have my differential / torque tube assembly out of car and inspected the universal joint. Seems to be no rotational wear at all. My concern is the end to end along pin movement (about 1/4 inch from stop to stop. I also observed that the universal has been rubbing the universal joint inner cover on the inside. Not bad but observable. In theory this should not be able to happen but it has or should I not be concerned about a little rubbing?

No discernable play in the transmission rear bearing and maybe .020 " in the drive shaft bearing. Replaced drive shaft bearing and now no movement. Is the 1/4 " stop to stop normal or should I replace the universal? the UJ is the kind with the snap rings.

Thanks in advance for all help concerning this issue. Jim
 
The U joint needs to slide back and forth as you indicate because the bearing on each side of it supports the shafts (hopefully) without and radial play.

It could be the housing damage was caused by an earlier joint that has since been replaced.

Be sure the special washer is located correctly in the spline, and the bolt is tight on the U joint.
 
Hello Don,

Thanks for the heads up. I should have stated that not only the inner cover showed signs of rubbing, but also the universal joint shows signs of rubbing.

I guess the universal could have gone bad and someone could have rebuilt it in the past.

The visual of the cover and UJ seem mighty fresh. I did not think of this scenario ( bad in the past ). Thanks for passing on your knowledge. I will put it all back together and see what happens. Jim
 
Before you put it back together check the bearing in the front of the torque tube. This supports the driveshaft, so lift the shaft up and down to see if the bearing is too worn.
 
CarlG said:
And don't forget the RED GREASE!:D
Click to expand...

Right. I don't think you can over grease it, and also don't forget the inner cup and both gaskets. A couple reports have talked about the missing inner cup, which takes the forward thrust to propel the car.
 

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Hi Tom,

Thanks for the pictures. I never would have thought that it needed that much grease. I had searched for universal joint threads and read many of them. Some said to much grease could be forced up the speedo cable to the speedo causing a problem.

Since I already have it together, I think I will remove the speedo drive and pump grease into the UJ grease fitting until I can see that some will be extruding from that opening.

I have not lubricated the speedo cable, so I will do that from the top being frugal with the amount installed and none at the last 4 or 5 inches.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Regards, Jim
 
JimCaseSC said:
Hi Tom,
Since I already have it together, I think I will remove the speedo drive and pump grease into the UJ grease fitting until I can see that some will be extruding from that opening.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. It took a entire large tube of grease, before I saw it work its way to the speedo opening. A lot of pumping!
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
Right. I don't think you can over grease it, and also don't forget the inner cup and both gaskets. A couple reports have talked about the missing inner cup, which takes the forward thrust to propel the car.
Click to expand...

Following your advice when i installed my AA driveline, just about a tub of the mystic jt6 red grease fits in that U joint housing. Squished out like playdoh when i bolted it all together. I had the fun experience of doing it TWICE due to the dual high:p
 
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