U joint install?

[Bonnewagon]

I hate to say it, but as simple a job it is, I still screwed it up. I routinely put new U-joints in my Bonnewagon during the overhaul. Done that job lots of times. But I had a vibration at speed. Took it to a shop to check the balance and the first thing he did was grab the joints and say "They are binding-there's your vibration". So redfaced I had him throw new ones in and balance it. End of problem.

 

[86 regal]

this is the u-joint and style of clip you need..and when your doing your u-joints mark the yoke so it goes on the way you took it apart. If you turn it it may put the driveshaft out of phase

Out of phase?? if the driveshaft is balanced it shouldbe fine and if its not it will vibrate, just sounds dumb to me

 

[pontiacgp]

this is the u-joint and style of clip you need..and when your doing your u-joints mark the yoke so it goes on the way you took it apart. If you turn it it may put the driveshaft out of phase

Out of phase?? if the driveshaft is balanced it shouldbe fine and if its not it will vibrate, just sounds dumb to me

The driveshaft is balanced with the u-joints and yoke in place. If you change the front u-joint and install the yoke 180* rotated you run the risk of an unbalanced driveshaft.

 

[tc1959]

this is the u-joint and style of clip you need..and when your doing your u-joints mark the yoke so it goes on the way you took it apart. If you turn it it may put the driveshaft out of phase

Out of phase?? if the driveshaft is balanced it shouldbe fine and if its not it will vibrate, just sounds dumb to me

The driveshaft is balanced with the u-joints and yoke in place. If you change the front u-joint and install the yoke 180* rotated you run the risk of an unbalanced driveshaft.

And there is nothing dumb about that, or asking for help,
"there is no such thing as a stupid question."

 

[79elky454ss]

I'm not convinced that 180 degrees out will effect much. After all who hasn't swapped a yolk for a trans swap and not re-balanced their shaft. What will screw you is a shaft with a carrier bearing/slip-yoke built in that has been assembled in a way that has the u-joints out of line, or a tube which is slightly twisted, leaving the joints misaligned. I have seen both especially in the heavy truck world.

 

[pontiacgp]

I'm not convinced that 180 degrees out will effect much. After all who hasn't swapped a yolk for a trans swap and not re-balanced their shaft. What will screw you is a shaft with a carrier bearing/slip-yoke built in that has been assembled in a way that has the u-joints out of line, or a tube which is slightly twisted, leaving the joints misaligned. I have seen both especially in the heavy truck world.

Don't take my word for it then. Go to any reputable shop and ask them if they mark the position of the yoke and driveshaft when doing a u-joint change. Why do you think a driveshaft is balanced with the yoke installed? Not much has to be effected to cause an unbalanced driveshaft and even a slightly unbalanced driveshaft will be felt. Personally I don't see why anyone would want to chance it that a yoke is evenly balanced when all it takes is to mark it's position but if you do go ahead.

 

[86 regal]

Out of phase?? if the driveshaft is balanced it shouldbe fine and if its not it will vibrate, just sounds dumb to me[/quote]

The driveshaft is balanced with the u-joints and yoke in place. If you change the front u-joint and install the yoke 180* rotated you run the risk of an unbalanced driveshaft.[/quote]And there is nothing dumb about that, or asking for help,
"there is no such thing as a stupid question."[/quote]

Sorry i didnt mean it like that at all i guess it was odd to me 😳

 

[pontiacgp]

Sorry i didnt mean it like that at all i guess it was odd to me 😳

not a problem ...these typed words don`t come with any expression or facial expression so sometimes they are misconstrued. It really doesn`t take much to unbalanced a driveshaft and the yokes were not a precision crafted part. It doesn`t seem possible that the yoke could cause an problems but it can. If the yoke was balanced on it`s own like the differential yoke is there would be no problem. I had a driveshaft balanced, changed the u-joints and the bearings on the pinion in the rear end to track down a vibration. It turned out to be the yoke on the rear end had thrown its little weight and I never found that out till I switched out my rear for another one and the vibration was gone.

 

[79elky454ss]

this is the u-joint and style of clip you need..and when your doing your u-joints mark the yoke so it goes on the way you took it apart. If you turn it it may put the driveshaft out of phase

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, or be argumentative, and I am willing to be convinced otherwise, but if the driveshaft is balanced with the u-joints/yoke attached,and you change the u-joint,particularly with one that has a grease zerk, wouldn't that be grounds for rebalancing the whole assembly? even IF the yoke remains in its "proper" relationship to the shaft? I have done dozens of U-joint replacements/yoke changes, without regard to the yoke alignment, and odds would be 50/50 that I had it wrong. I just never heard of it being a big deal, and it never was a big deal in my experience. However, I suspect I may pay a little more attention in the future on a u-joint job.

 

[tc1959]

this is the u-joint and style of clip you need..and when your doing your u-joints mark the yoke so it goes on the way you took it apart. If you turn it it may put the driveshaft out of phase

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, or be argumentative, and I am willing to be convinced otherwise, but if the driveshaft is balanced with the u-joints/yoke attached,and you change the u-joint,particularly with one that has a grease zerk, wouldn't that be grounds for rebalancing the whole assembly? even IF the yoke remains in its "proper" relationship to the shaft? I have done dozens of U-joint replacements/yoke changes, without regard to the yoke alignment, and odds would be 50/50 that I had it wrong. I just never heard of it being a big deal, and it never was a big deal in my experience. However, I suspect I may pay a little more attention in the future on a u-joint job.

Either that or your extremely lucky , maybe we should do a road trip to Vegas