New universal joint WARNING!!

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: New universal joint WARNING!!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerry van Ekeren (Australia) on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 06:49 am:

Please check that your new uni fits, I've already done the damage.
Problem is the square male end that slides into the drive plate is .006 to big. By the time I got the rear end all bolted up and started the T, it was to late, brass screaming in the trans, the only way I could get the drive shaft out of the out put shaft was to drive the pin out leaving the uni on the trans, an hour later of trying to get it off has left me with the drive plate now running about .020 out. Vendor/supplier has been notified.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin Whelihan on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 06:54 am:

Don't know...are all those made by the same manufacturer or not? Any way to identify and avoid bad ones or is it kind of a trial and error process? I'll be replacing mine in the next couple of weeks and I really don't want any issues with it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Katy, Texas on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 08:06 am:

Best bet; use an NOS or good used original. They are on Ebay and flea markets all the time. I say, if it isn't loose and sloppy, use it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john kuehn on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 08:49 am:

You will be surprised how many good used u-joints you can find at Chickasha. Pretty reasonable too.
I use to pick them up fairly frequently until I decided they weren't that hard to come by.

Like T Woods says, if it isn't sloppy and loose, use it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 10:13 am:

It is very important that the u-joint slides easily in and out of the driven plate of the transmission. Otherwise it can put a large amount of reverse thrust pushing the driveshaft down into the ring gear when the rear end goes up. This can put heavy wear on the upper brass bushing in the drive shaft housing if you are running the original setup or heavy wear on the bronze bushing in the pinion housing if you are running our Fun Projects bearing setup. Both of those bushings should only be carrying the weight of the upper drive shaft and not any reverse thrust that has been created artificially by a fault in the ujoint-to-drive plate fitting.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Larry Smith on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 10:34 am:

I'll go along with Terry. There were excellent used u-joints everywhere at Hershey.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Larry Bohlen, Severn MD on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 10:39 am:

Larry/Terry,

I found 2 near perfect almost NOS for $10 ea.

They are around and cheap.
Larry


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Willie K Cordes on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 11:59 am:

The problem that Kerry has with Hershey and Chickasha is the physical location of these two swap meets. He list Australia as his home. His modern car could not make the trip.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 12:10 pm:

If originals are scarce in Australia, ask the usual suspects here (Chaffin's, Lang's, etc.). Most of the dealers carry used parts that may not be listed in their catalogues.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Adam Doleshal on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 12:41 pm:

Kerry, If the u-joint is .006" oversize, how big of a hammer did you use to install it?

New u-joints have had issues for about 20 years now. Generally they wear so fast that they can break apart in a couple thousand miles.

Used Ford u-joints are the best way to go. Be careful inspecting them because they generally only wear on one yoke... Typically 3 of the yokes might have around .003" clearance and the fourth can have .035" or more!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Deckman, Ogden Utah on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 01:32 pm:

Perfect just got mine done with a new ujoint. wish this was about a month ago?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 03:09 pm:

Hmmmmmm.......I got one from Lang's for the '20 Coupe I had.......it was perfect.
Didn't even have to face the upper drive shaft bushing flange.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerry van Ekeren (Australia) on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 03:57 pm:

Adam,
No hammer involved to fit, just pulling it in with the 4 ball cap bolts and assuming it was sliding in with no force, I was wrong!
Message back from supplier, the one they have still in stock is over size as well, they have notified maker, waiting for reply.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 04:13 pm:

To help measure what you have. The drawings call for the male end of the ujoint to be .873/.875 but also check that the overall length from the center of the yoke pivot point to end of male square end is not longer than 2-9/16 while the square male end should also show a length of 1-9/16" from shoulder to end. If too long in either dimension it could bottom out in there and that could also put undue force trying to push the driveshaft into the ring gear. The driven plate has a clearance of .875/.877 and these are very tight tolerances since clearly this is not some crude mating tolerances but Ford intended for the male part of the ujoint to slide smoothly in and out of the driven plate with .002 nominal clearance. I have it on good authority that the male end size is being measured at .878 on one new ujoint. This part should be carefully inspected before you use it since having it get stuck along the slide in or out could be a major problem for a new rear end being assembled.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerry van Ekeren (Australia) on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 04:31 pm:

Thanks John, yes, I'm informed that both the supplier and makers at this stage of what is left in stock are coming up with the wrong size of .878


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jack Putnam, Bluffton, Ohio on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 04:32 pm:

I had bought one of the new universal joints but it would not fit the driveshaft. I did not try it in the output shaft. I had bought a new driveshaft, it would not go on. I tried it on five other Ford used drive shafts I had access to, it would not fit any of them. Sent it back and found an original used universal joint.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 07:08 pm:

Sorry you had this problem Kerry v E. Hopefully you may effect repairs without pulling the engine.
I have had output driven plates that could have used that much oversize, so maybe some people have used the new U-joints successfully for bad reasons.
You guys back East sometimes have it nicer than we seem to out here in Califunny. Usually, when I find a marginal U-joint at a swap meet around here, they always seem to want $40 or more for it.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Friday, October 18, 2013 - 11:32 am:

Wayne:

We sell all of our marginal stuff here in the Midwest to West Coast guys who are passing through :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Adam Doleshal on Friday, October 18, 2013 - 11:58 am:

I would imagine Kerry could take his u-joint somewhere that has a small surface grinder and have .002" dusted off each of the 4 faces and that would be far less expensive than returning it and getting a new one... I would imagine that setting the square on a magnetic chuck, removing .002, turning 1/4 turn, removing .002, etc should only take 10-15 minutes of machine time and should probably be accurate enough... Anyone disagree?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Friday, October 18, 2013 - 03:06 pm:

John R,
Thanks for the laugh! I really needed it.
And I do believe that by the way.
I have been known to run some marginal stuff on Ts in the past (don't know if I should be admitting that or not). I once saw a U-joint at a swap meet that I wouldn't consider running without more work than it would be worth. While I was looking it over (I needed one at the time) and thinking to myself "would I give $5 for this?" The vendor said "That U-joint will be $80!" I thought "you gotta be nuts" and quietly walked away never looking back. I later found one in my stuff that was worn, but a lot better than his. I only have one or two more left that are usable without too much work. I keep looking at swap meets. But people in the "golden state" seem too think those things are made of gold.
Maybe they are trying to pay for the gas bringing them here from the Midwest?
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Friday, October 18, 2013 - 04:30 pm:

The only problem with not returning the item is that once you start to modify it, you let the vendor off the hook on the warranty and you have to wonder what else is not made right on the thing. That is a pretty obvious place to not check. Is the other end the right size?? If it is undersize and you can't get it on the driveshaft easily you could be in for even more headaches. I don't disagree that shipping it back is not easy but the rear end is going to be together for many years and I sure hate to put something together and wonder what else on the part was not measured very carefully. Its easy for me to say that since in the USA we can simply send it back. I would only surface it with the maker's permission to do so since he should give the customer a pretty large amount of leeway on making any mistake and not lose his warranty. Just my .02


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerry van Ekeren (Australia) on Friday, October 18, 2013 - 04:46 pm:

I agree, I'll not attempt to repair without instructions from the supplier, I will need to buy a stone for my milling machine to do it anyway, the intent was not to have to remove the diff again, it was out for a ratio change of the pinion gear, I found 3.1 just to tall for this touring, although the last owner run with it for more than 50 years, the old one is back in, it's not to bad with about .007 play, 4 day tour coming up.


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