Cardan joint question

In an effort to figure out what my high speed groan is all about, I pulled the front drive-shaft to eliminate that as the issue. Although it wasn't the problem, I did find that all the joints were stiff and dry and most certainly needed to be serviced.

Off to NAPA I went to pick up 3 heavy duty u-joints and a rebuild kit for the cardan yoke (ball, spring, seal and retainer). I found out that NAPA no longer sells Spicer/Dana, but instead sell their own house brand, I think made by Precision. No problem, they're greasable and have a lifetime warranty, so good to go. At the recommendation of the write-up on stu-offroad.com, I stopped by Harbor Freight and picked up their low-end u-joint/ball-joint press. This thing made pressing in/out u-joints a breeze - I never will use sockets and a hammer again. http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-ball-joint-u-joint-c-frame-press-service-kit-38335.html

I disassembled everything with no problems - the press really made it go quick. After pulling everything apart I separated the ball and retainer from the cardan yoke, cleaned and commenced putting it back together with fresh grease. I re-assembled the two u-joints (inner first, outer second) and grasped the cardan joint and moved it around. I don't recall how much it moved fore/aft/side/side before I disassembled, but when rotating, I met resistance at several spots - it seems very stiff and notchy almost. I took off the outer u-joint and checked that the needle bearings were in place and that the spring was in place, which it was. The grease seal was seated nicely - all appears to be correct. The ball moved freely in its cup, etc. When I re-installed the outer u-joint, it just doesn't feel right.

Does anyone have one off their Jeep that they can put their hands on and describe how it feels when manipulating both u-joints in the cardan end of the shaft? It's no problem to pull it apart again and start over, which I may do anyway. It just doesn't seem like I should feel resistance when twisting/turning the joint(s). Thing is, I don't know if I'm trying to turn/rotate the joint in a direction, or manner that it won't be subjected to on the Jeep.

The damn thing is so simple, I just don't see how it can be messed up

thanks,
Mike

Ive seen new driveshafts act like that,also did you make sure not to seat the cups to deep?

RCP Phx said:

Ive seen new driveshafts act like that,also did you make sure not to seat the cups to deep?

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Cups...? Trying to think of what you're referring to. Can you give me a bit more info?

Thinking about your post, I'm assuming by cups, you mean the "cups" on the end of each cross, which hold the bearings. I don't think they're too deep - there was barely room to pop on the retainer clips.

Hmmm....

Did the same just a couple weeks back. What I noticed is that once one of the joints in the cardan is in, it is difficult to get the other in because there isn't much room for up and down movement. As well, becuase it is compressed with the spring, it is hard to get it perfectly centered to get the caps on.

For me it was more an act of patience than anything. I ran into several attempts where it seemed to get stuck or off kilter and not want to move.

Also, like you, I found a couple of the caps, even when on correctly and fully, there was barely room to attach the retainer clips.

It sounds like you are doing everything right....just hasn't fallen into place for you yet.

Sometimes if you press the yokes in just a tad too far, they will bind. If you hit the yoke just right with a hammer, it can sometimes relax the tension.

Matthew Currie said:

Sometimes if you press the yokes in just a tad too far, they will bind. If you hit the yoke just right with a hammer, it can sometimes relax the tension.

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Matthew, that's the diff end of the shaft, correct? My problem is with the cardan end, or, does the same apply?

Mike

mhopton said:

Matthew, that's the diff end of the shaft, correct? My problem is with the cardan end, or, does the same apply?

Mike

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Same or similar, if you can find a solid part of the yoke to hit. I just couldn't seem to get a good shot of the cardan end in a hurry last night. Too cold for the lights to come on right, and the camera wasn't happy focusing.

Final update on this. I dis-assembled the cardan joint one step at a time to isolate the binding, which there was none individually. I tapped the ball and seal a couple of times on the outer circumference to ensure the ball was seated properly and reassembled.

The binding at extreme angles was still there, but I think I was trying to make the joint turn at angles that it won't see on the jeep. So, I reinstalled and went for a test drive. It worked just fine, no roughness, binding, or other issues. Now, loosening the pinion nut to replace the seal was a different story...I don't have an impact wrench and that 29mm nut wasn't coming off. Oh well, I'll save that for another day.

Thanks for all of the tips/help.