Universal Joint Woes

[GFoley]

Need some help from fellow owners.

Last night I lost the universal joint at the rear differential yoke. I pulled the shaft, shifted to 4WD and limped it home.

Today I replaced the joint and lost it again this evening.

Here are my questions:



1 - How many bolts retain this same universal joint in your truck?



2 - I only had one bolt in each of the retaining clamps. Could I have broken two bolts and then twisted the shaft out of place because two bolts simply aren't enough?



3 - Tomorrow I'll get another set of retaining clamps. Should I attempt to remove broken stud with a screw extractor or drill it out and retap the hole if 4 bolts are necessary?



I cannot stand having my truck down, I'll check back often tonight and tomorrow morning, thanks for all of the replies.



Glenn

 

[Bob Cochran]

Supposed to be 4 bolts I have never seen one with less in any vehicle. I think you must have broken of two. Remove the broken ones and get 4 back in will fix your problem. I am usre if nayone has seen only 2 bolts before will chime in.

 

[CumminsAholic]

I just ran out and checked mine... It's what I thought... 4 bolts, 2 in each retainer. I'd try a screw extractor first. It'd be the best to get the old ones out and use the original threads. Re-tap it only if you have to, but by retapping you might strip it out because there'll be less original metal there for the bolt to thread to (I hope I'm making sense) and then you'd have to put in a heli-coil.

Corey

 

[nwinters]

On my CJ-7 I had the option of 2 different types of U-Joint retention, depending on what kind of yokes you had on your CJ-7. You could either have the straps and bolts like on the Ram, or you could have little U-Bolt straps that went through the yoke and then put nuts on the back of the u-bolt threads.

If you have to drill out the old bolts in the yoke and don't have any luck with tapping, check and see if there are any of these u-bolt straps available. I'm not sure if they are the same size as a CJ-7 or not, I haven't done any on my new (to me) Ram. The U-bolt straps are flat where they hold the U-joint into the yoke then round out where the threads are going through the yoke.

I hope that this kind of stuff wouldn't cause any driveline vibration or anything, shouldn't as long as you don't remove too much metal.



Nate

 

[fj40charles]

I've often wondered if the straps are strong enough for the

1410 ujoints on the dana 80 center section of the rear axle.



I personally like the u bolts that are used to hold the ujoint in place. I might have to give my friend a call at High Angle Driveline to see if he could make some custom pinion flanges.



Charles

 

[Stroke This 24V]

If you can't remove the old bolts and there is a need to drill I wouldn't drill I would just go get another yoke from a junkyard/dealer due to if you remove material then you will be adding harmonic vibrations that will eventually lead to further failure to earings ect.

 

[GFoley]

Thanks

Thanks to you all for your input. I must have breokne the first two some time ago.



I'll get it back up and on the road today.



Glenn



The shaft took a hit that bent the tube, it also smacked the pavement pretty hard and cracked the yoke and will not retain a clip anymore. I couldn't get the broken studs out and couldn't drill it straight to tap either. The yoke gets replaced.

Its off to the drivetrain repair shop. At least they are Spicer/Dana stocking dealer and their shop is neat and well organized. I felt comfortable dealing with them.

 

[Texas Diesel]

4 is the magic number. Be careful not to overtighten the 4 cap retaining bolts, if they are too tight they can force the end cap out-of-round and you will wear out u-joints on a regular basis. Ask me how I know I use blue loctite and use a 6 point wrench, those little bolts can round off very easy.

 

[GFoley]

Thanks to you all, I editied my original post with an update. I have a driveline shop appt tomorrow.



They are very agreeable folks. I already bought the blue toctite. My retainer caps from NAPA came w/ 12 pt cap screws. kinda PIA if you don't have the right socket, maybe this is the last time I'll replace one.

 

[David_VT]

Check your universal bolts after a clutch change!

Somewhat related to this thread.



After my 'bombed' clutch was installed I discovered that my trusty mechanic had not tightened down my universal bolts as well as he should have. They were so loose that I could twist the universal in the clamp.



No telling how much life was lost in the universal from that oops.

 

[GBerry]

GFoley

if you didnt goof up the yoke too bad you might be able to take it to a shop that has a EDM machine and had them remove the broken pieces, I use to work at a Honda dealer and we sent heads out to a machine shop and have them burn the broken bolts pieces out with the EDM machine they had just a thought!

not sure what a yoke costs might not be that bad but some of the heads for the bikes we worked on and cases were perty pricey

good luck!!

GB