u-joint question

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63dartman

63dartman

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I was inspecting my u-joints and noticed my front yoke only had two c-clips on it. The u-joint caps on the driveshaft portion have the clips but the caps that hold the shaft to the yoke do not. I know they are pressed in but shouldn't they have clips also? It looks like the caps are not in all the way since they are almost flush with the outside edge of the yoke. I've driven it pretty hard too, A trip to the track once and just gettin on it at times. I've got a 10k on the drive shaft and it's still there.......now that I saw this I'm just worried it may be a accident waiting to happen.
 
When I was a youngun', I didn't want to hassle putting the clips on. Imagine my embarrassment (and education) when I had to get towed home when one of the caps came out and I had a violent vibration. It could have been worse....like if I were dumping the clutch...
 
There are 2 different designs, inboard retainer rings and outboard retainer clips . Look again
 
would a universal joint incorporate both the out clips and the inner clips on the same u-joint? One set of caps has the c-clips and the other I'm questioning.
 
Here is a pic of the side without clips. I would think even if it had the internal clips it should not be out this far.

PB010089 (Medium).JPG
 
It looks like it's out to far. what's the cap look like on the inside, is the rubber seal on the end of the cap up against the shoulder on the cross. It wouldn't surprise me if you pushed that cap in further you'd uncover the groove that the clip goes into. Also check the cap directly across from it for clearance to the cap seal.

Terry
 
Yeah, I had the driveshaft shortened at a local shop and the front yoke was assembled there. Never looked at it until I was installing some new exhaust. Should I just go buy a cheapy c-clamp and try to press the caps back in and look for the clip grooves?
 
63dartman said:
Yeah, I had the driveshaft shortened at a local shop and the front yoke was assembled there. Never looked at it until I was installing some new exhaust. Should I just go buy a cheapy c-clamp and try to press the caps back in and look for the clip grooves?
Click to expand...

No, sometimes if just 1 needle from the bearing falls into the end of the cap when the joint is being assembled the cap will fail to go all the way in the bore, about the width of the lock clip. If it was me I'd yank the entire drive shaft and pull the end apart and see what gives cuss to me it doesn't look right and I hate mysteries.
 
I'm planning on removing the driveshaft tomorrow and take a closer look.
thanks for info.
 
I bet my quarter on "no fault found". Where inboard clips serve as stops the machined dimentions are inside. How far that cap sticks out would have no meaning. If the clips are there and resting against the inner sides of the yoke dont go beating on them with a hammer or you'll jamb the joint.
 
if there are no clips it might be like the old gm ones that had this rubber goop that it was pressed into to hold it in place. the first time you changed them you would have to burn the rubber out with a torch then replace it with a standard internal clip joint. are there any small holes on the side of the yoke around the u-joint cap?
 
Redfish was the winner! I pulled the drive shaft today and got it all cleaned up with some q-tips and clear as day it has the internal clips.
 
Not sure about the sleeping part but, I sure won't hesitate to put the right foot down now:):) Thanks for the help on this everyone. Even though I had to do all the work:)
 
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