HD u-joints

[vacuum 6]

Napa sells HD u-joints. Do I want the ones with outside or inside lock rings?

 

[turbo nasty]

You want Spicers..period

 

[novaderrik]

inside, i think, becasue the stock yokes aren't machined for the outside lock rings.

 

[conn84gn]

NAPA inside lockers
Be sure when you remove the drive shaft to mark it in relation to the rearend yoke
Same for the front part of the drive shaft
If they are not put back the same way you could have a shake

 

[turbo nasty]

Its best to have the DS rebalnced after u joint replacement. For assurance .......U joints have different weights

 

[conn84gn]

I agree

 

[novaderrik]

Its best to have the DS rebalnced after u joint replacement. For assurance .......U joints have different weights

properly installed u joints won't cause any kind of a vibration. of course, if you drop the shaft and dent it a bit, it might throw the balance out of whack.

 

[wile87]

i have never even heard of rebalancing a ds after u-joint replacment unless you think you may have bent it somehow or your driving a 7 sec racer. if you get a vibraton it's usually because you don't have the joints in evenly

 

[turbo nasty]

Right way is to have it rebalanced ....not that expensive to have it done.
Plenty do it without rebalancing...whatever turns your crank dude

 

[wile87]

been working on cars for 20+ years never had a problem. dealers and shops don't even balance them

 

[vacuum 6]

Ok I'll get the HD inside locking rings. What about grease fitting, yes or no?

 

[turbo nasty]

Grease fittings one are weaker as the are hollow

 

[vacuum 6]

That's a no.

 

[turbo nasty]

Think about it the universal joint was an original part held in by nylon injection, the driveshaft will need to be rebalanced now that the new u joint is centered with snap rings.
There is a weight difference....
So if you want it to be balanced then get it done.
Once I had the guy at the driveline shop show me it was off enough after the factory joint were melted out and replaced with c clip type. I always have them done.
Dont want to get in a tug o war here.
Take the time to call a few drive shaft places dennys, inland, etc and see for yourself.

 

[novaderrik]

well, yeah- a place that sells and balances driveshafts for a living is going to say it needs to be balanced.
duh.
all the mass of a u joint is right in the middle of the rotating mass and the joint is perfecly symmetrical- how is that going to throw anything out of whack?
i've done a few u joints in my day, and never had a driveshaft vibrate funny after putting them in.
hell, i even shortened the driveshaft on my 74 Monte myself when i put the 700r4 trans in it. i used the flat concrete floor as a guide to hold everything straight and welded thte yoke back on. put it in the car and went for a drive- no vibes at all up past 100mph.

 

[vacuum 6]

Got the u-joints from Jack. Marked a location of the DS from the rearend. Installed back to its same location...no issues.

 

[vacuum 6]

When replacing the u-joints, how did you guys remove the stock one? I noticed the stock ones are held in with plastic, I heated it up the plastic softened up and I beat them out. The entire job with DS loop took 2 hours.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

thats one of doing it. and it works!

I just use a press.

can swap out both joints in 20 minutes using a press. takes longer to get the car up on stands!

A.j.

 

[charlief1]

I'm with Aj. I use a ball joint press and an impact. Sometimes you have to heat up the plastic if it's still in there but I've only had to do it a few times in 27 years. It also keeps you from displacing the bearings and damaging them.

 

[kevins88ss]

I just did this. Heated them up so the plastic came out - whacked them silly to drive the old ones out and the new ones in. They don't go in easy at all. And unless you have a spacer for the middle tabs the new Ujoints bind - so you have to drive out the ears again until the Ujoint moves easily. Imagine my surprose when I had a vibration. Brought it to a DS shop and they rebalanced it. Put it back in and it runs great.

The guys at the DS shop said that the factory ujoints might not have been exactly centered when installed and balanced. That could cause new c-clip ujoints to cause a vibration. That and the BFH.