U-Joint Mania! (with pix)

[realsquash]

OK gentlemen and gentlewimmens, I took some photos tonight of some of the ujoints I have laying around the garage. We have the standard 1310, 1350, and 1480 joints. These are all the external snapring type that are nearly always used for driveshafts. I have a couple of other joints for my offroad junk that are used as axle joints, sometimes called wheel joints. A Dana 44 front uses a 1310 (IIRC) size and a Dana 60 uses a 1410 size. I didn't include these but the comparison makes you want a Dana 60



I also took pix of the two variants of the Precision Brand 351 joints. That's the first pic and you can see the difference in the cross. The "EX15" jobbie just won't slide into the yoke like the other one. Maybe that's the reason for the design change?



The 1310 and the 1480 are both greasable while the 1350 is a Brute Force non-greaseable. Notice that they are ALL drilled in the cross to hold grease. The Brute Force joint even has the boss cast in it for the zerk. The hole for the zerk surely affects strength of the joint but on that 1480 I don't think that's going to break. Especially compared to the stock joint, these things even weigh twice as much as the stockers.



The original 1480 joint appears to be a Spicer unit. I don't know what the original 3-piece shaft joints look like but I bet they are also Spicers. Who cares, they are 1350s and everyone makes them.



I'm becoming verclemped... talk amongst yourselves.



Andy

 

[JeepinDoug]

Good topic but there's a difference between axle joints and driveline joints. The Dana 44 axle joints come with two different numbers, 297x (greasable) and 271x (non-greasable). I believe neither of these have a cross hole to grease through such as driveline joint. There's also a forged joint, 5-760x, or if you're feeling really good there is OX and CTM joints, $$$. This is a CTM joint pictured with a pair of Superior Evolution 4140 ChrMo axles, the joint alone is around $215 each and have a lifetime warrantee as long as you use alloy shafts.

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Dana 60 axle joints are the 1480 or Spicer number 5-733X or SPL55-4x .

Now, you can measure them and come up with the same numbers but buying a typical 1310 for your axle would put a damper on your project. Mainly because the snap ring groove needed for the cap bosses in the axle yokes. Driveline joint caps don't always come with the grooves, mostly don't. If you priced them you'd see a huge difference. A Dana-Spicer driveline joint is about $15 whereas a 297x runs around $45, the $30 difference is not the added groove but the material and process.

I never heard of a 1480 driveline joint before but I'm not doubting your info, I've seen them from 1310 upto 1750 2 ton joints, usually the last two numbers are 10, 30 and 50.

Here's a sample of driveline u joint measurements,

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Driveline joints are a little similiar as they can have a cross hole to store more grease or have no cross hole for more strength.

 

[rbattelle]

Andy - which one are you currently running on your truck?



-Ryan

 

[realsquash]

My truck has 1480 series, Precision 351, u-joints. It isn't a 1410. It isn't a 1480 wheel joint. It's a 1480 driveshaft joint. I just happened to have the others sitting around to compare to for grins so there's no point in discussing them unless we know what the Ram has for wheel joints.



I misspoke about the D60 joint, it's a 1480 like the joint I put in my truck but it's built to use internal snaprings instead of external. I actually had that in my original post but edited it to a 1410 because I was tired and dilusional.



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115575 has pix of the 351 installed into my driveshaft.



Andy

 

[jjdiesel]

Realsquash..... thanks for the nice effort and all the info, good post

 

[rbattelle]

Andy,



In the thread on D&@#^ U-Joints the thing I'm most confused about is what, exactly you grinded to make the 351 joint fit. Is it just that little shiny area in your pic?

 

[realsquash]

Andy,



In the thread on D&@#^ U-Joints the thing I'm most confused about is what, exactly you grinded to make the 351 joint fit. Is it just that little shiny area in your pic?

It is the shiney area on the curve around the hole where the caps fit into the yoke on the driveshaft. I didn't have to grind it, I took a round file and in about 5 passes I just rounded off that edge. That's all, just one corner on just the driveshaft yokes.



Make sure you get the right joints!



Andy

 

[Blakers]

Front axle u-joint

This is the thread I have been hunting for.



Has anyone found an aftermarket U-joint for the front axle (wheel joints) on our trucks? I need one asap.



Thanks.

 

[Blakers]

I called my Dodge dealer today and the Dodge part number for the front axle joint is 5086665AC which I can get for $62. 78.



I called NAPA and they crossed it to a Precision 464 which they can get for $53. 87, but the closest one is in Oklahoma.



Anyone have any comments on these numbers? Has anyone actually tried the 464?



Thanks,

Blake