U Joint Failure

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: U Joint Failure
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Vaughn on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 06:19 pm:

On the last day of the Heartland Tour my touring car started making a very mild, not very noisy, grinding thumping noise under my feet. I was fortunate that I was only a few miles from home and made it with no problem. The rivets that hold the joint together failed on one side of the joint. This U-Joint was installed 6 years ago and though it was used was in very good, tight condition when I installed it. Here are a few pictures of what I found.









Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 06:28 pm:

WHOA.......I can't even imagine how that happened as there is virtually zero thrust on the joint.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Hoshield on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 06:31 pm:

Curious ... is the housing OK, even with all the damage to the 'innards'?

Lucky you weren't on a long trip!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Vaughn on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 06:38 pm:

Dennis - I could find no damage to the housing.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Hoshield on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 06:39 pm:

Kind of suprising, really! Good deal, though!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Allan Richard Bennett on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 07:09 pm:

i had the same experience with my first ever T rescued from a beach shack. A mate and I drove 30 miles with the cage on the joint completely split. The two yokes of the joint were driving directly on each other and the growl and heat were intense. It was 10pm and the smoke from the housing was thick. I won't tell you how a couple of 18 year old fellows tried to cool it down!

Surprisingly, the only real damage was the melted out 4th main bearing in the back of the trans. With a replacement U joint and bearing cup, she ran as good as ever, not that that was very good in that old girl.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 08:13 pm:

Mike:

Was the ujoint "pinned" to the drive shaft or was it free to move?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Vaughn on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 08:16 pm:

John - The U Joint was pinned.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 09:06 pm:

Did you have stock rear DS bearing, or a modern one? I run the John Stoltz setup and let the Ujoint float. It self-centers.

rdr


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Matthew David Maiers on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 09:22 pm:

my wondering is if the spider wore out then pounded the housing apart.

from what ive been told the u joint needs nearly a full tube of grease.

an old guy asked me once how do you know when youve greased the u joint enough? answer: when grease comes out the rear hubs ;)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Vaughn on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 09:25 pm:

Ricks - This car has the stock Hyatt attached to a Ruckstell. There is no problem with the bearing or the rear end. Ring and pinion mesh is good with no wear on the gears. The 4th main shows some wear and will need to be replaced but is only showing about .003 wear. The rest of the drive train is in great shape including main and rod bearings. Crank shaft thrust is minimal and within specs. I checked run out on the tail shaft and there is none. This car has been a great runner and we have had it on a lot of tours over the past 6 years.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Vaughn on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 09:37 pm:

Mathew - I have always been very good about adding grease, I pack it clear full just before attaching to the engine. And then give it a full grease cup very regularly after that. It is possible that it could have run out of grease but I doubt it, I always have clumps of grease oozing out of the drive shaft tube on all of my cars, I wipe it off when I service the cars and re-fill the cup. I always change the oil at about 500 miles and usually ad grease a couple of times between oil changes.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Stephen D Heatherly on Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 09:51 pm:

I wipe the grease off often and when it stops oozing out I add more.

Stephen


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George Button III (Chip), Lake Clear, NY on Monday, August 27, 2012 - 12:10 am:

Is that greased by the cup on the ball cap on the end of the hogshead, or by both the hogshead cup and the cup on the front end of the drive shaft?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Rowles on Monday, August 27, 2012 - 02:46 am:

From examination of the wear pattern on the 4 pins, I would say the rivets broke a while ago and the noise increased as two of the pins were damaged more quickly by rubbing on the resulting sharp corners of the bearing hole. You remind us to pay attention to changing sounds and investigate before a developing part failure becomes a roadside breakdown.


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