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U-bolt Retainers for U-Joints

B

Blk96XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Columbus, Ohio
I just want to know how many ppl did the mod to use u-bolts as u-joint straps. I have a 29-spline 8.25 and I want to be able to just carry u-joints,u-bolts,a hammer, and some wrenches and never have to worry about a broke u-joint in the DS.
I dont want a bolt to sheer off and have a crap time fixing it. After drilling into a 8.25 yoke how much metal is left? Is it stable?
 
works fine. Been running them for 2/3 years now on a DD. Got tired of being stranded when a strap let go and sheered the bolt. I picked up the ubolts from the HELP section of advanced (think they are for fords) and drilled the holes out to the size of the ubolt. I keep a few spares in the toolbox and good to go. I can try to snap a picture of how much material was left. Got a few opinions from a mechanic and they said looked like plenty of material left. Stronger then those tiny bolts lol.
 
I just dont want to be stranded. I dont want to drill into it and mess up the crush sleeve or something dumb and mess up the rear axle. Im not to worried about that tho. I heard you can do this on the front axle yoke also. Is that true??
 
I swapped yokes last summer on both my HP30 and my rear 44.

This is what I leared.... there are two differnet yokes. There is the stock, strap type yoke, and there are yokes that are made to accept U-bolts.

The holes in the U-bolt yokes are a bit further apart than the holes in the strap style yokes. The u-bolts for the U-bolt yokes will be a bit on the big side tyring to use them on the strap style yokes. I understand they will work, but will require a you squeeze them down a bit.

I opted to get used U-Bolt yokes and just swapped those in.



I cannot comment on the crush sleeve. My rear axle suppesedly doens't use a crush sleeve.
 
Yea i got a 8.25 so there is a crush sleeve i doubt ill hurt it. Ive looked for a u-bolt yoke for a 8.25 and i guess they dont make them. so ppl say to just drill it. I wanted to buy a new strap yoke thrpw it in a drill press and drill it that way and take it to a shop and have them install the new yoke and crush sleeve.

Altho someone said they make shims to replace crush sleeve so you dont need to adjust preload anymore.just remove yoke and shim install shim and new yoke and torque it down.
 
Blk96XJ said:
Ive looked for a u-bolt yoke for a 8.25 and i guess they dont make them. so ppl say to just drill it.
Click to expand...


Hmmm... are the yokes on the 8.25 not the same as the yokes on the D30 and D44? I thought they were the same.


The one thing I didn't like about drilling the strap yokes, is that there isn't enough room on the back side for the nut to sit flat. On the u-bolt yoke I got, there is more material than on the Strap yokes I had, so the nuts sit flat. If I were to drill my old yokes, the nut would not have sat flat. There is more room in the back for the nut to sit flat, or to easily get a socket on the nut. I haven't really heard this being a problem.

Truth is, my first plan was to drill them out. In trying to get the sheared bolt off, I broke the easy out off... so at that point, extracing the bolt was too much effort... that also played a big role in me going with new yokes.
 
Blk96XJ said:
Altho someone said they make shims to replace crush sleeve so you dont need to adjust preload anymore.just remove yoke and shim install shim and new yoke and torque it down.
Click to expand...

I mentioned that over on CF.

8.25 crush sleeve eliminator

The spacer/shims are more critical to set-up pinion bearing pre-load properly but allow for easier removal/re-install of the yoke during trail-side repairs. Simply torque the nut and go!

The crush sleeve makes trail repair more difficult, its a fine line to walk when tightening the pinion nut. Too tight= too much pre-load, too loose= not enough preload

Spacer/shims on the left, the crush sleeve on the right.
P1020146.jpg
 
The built axles 8.25 and hp30 i bought came with the ubolt style already on the rear and i didnt really think about it but when i went to hook up the front D.S. hardware i realized the front had been drilled so i searched naxja and found a thread with a spicer part # which i ordered and they came today.

i used a mini sledge to narrow them a bit to get them in and even then they didnt want to go on far enough to thread on. i ended up having to use the hammer to beat it on far enough to thread bending the ubolt out of shape a bit i tightened one side a bit and then the other and could see it bend to fit around the ujoint quite nicely . i figure ill wait a week or two and recheck tightness (i do this after any work really).

kinda a pain to get on but i think itll come off easier as it kind of reshaped with the tightening.. pretty shure they are the stock yokes there was no room for a small ratchet but a combo wrench fit nicely..
 
I have the 8.25 and all I had to do was drill. I did also sheepishly drill my 30 too without really checking but there isnt enough room on the stock yoke to tighten the bolt on the Ubolt. I had a spare to swap back in. So No on the stock 30, Yes on the 8.25.
 
Cool. I didnt know that was you on CF. So if i wanted to buy shims, its a simple install?? No setting preload, just remove crush ring , throw it away, install shims and torque down??
 
Blk96XJ said:
Cool. I didnt know that was you on CF. So if i wanted to buy shims, its a simple install?? No setting preload, just remove crush ring , throw it away, install shims and torque down??
Click to expand...

Not quite that simple. You'll have to pull the whole carrier to be able to pull the pinion to swap the crush sleeve. When you go to put everything back together you'll have to setup the gears again.
 
menos said:
Not quite that simple. You'll have to pull the whole carrier to be able to pull the pinion to swap the crush sleeve. When you go to put everything back together you'll have to setup the gears again.
Click to expand...
Not so, you remove the yoke, the seal, the bearing and the crush sleeve then install the spacer and shims, the bearing, and replace the seal then reinstall the yoke. The only hitch in this is it will be difficult to get a feel for the preload with the carrier installed. For this reason it would be best to remove the carrier but I don't think it is absolutely necessary if you can get a good feel for the pinion preload with the carrier installed. The pinion never needs to be unseated from the inner bearing race.
 
jeeperjohn said:
Not so, you remove the yoke, the seal, the bearing and the crush sleeve then install the spacer and shims, the bearing, and replace the seal then reinstall the yoke. The only hitch in this is it will be difficult to get a feel for the preload with the carrier installed. For this reason it would be best to remove the carrier but I don't think it is absolutely necessary if you can get a good feel for the pinion preload with the carrier installed. The pinion never needs to be unseated from the inner bearing race.
Click to expand...

How would you go about removing the outer pinion bearing from the shaft of the pinion without driving the pinion out? Isn't it press fit onto the pinion shaft? Also the crush sleeve required some force to dislodge from the pinion shaft also (at least in my case). How would you do that?

No attitude intended as I'm genuinely curious.
 
menos said:
How would you go about removing the outer pinion bearing from the shaft of the pinion without driving the pinion out? Isn't it press fit onto the pinion shaft? Also the crush sleeve required some force to dislodge from the pinion shaft also (at least in my case). How would you do that?

No attitude intended as I'm genuinely curious.
Click to expand...
You make a good point, the outer pinion bearing is a slight press fit so if you are unable to pull it out with a hook you would have to pull the carrier to drive the pinion inward to dislodge it. That would require you to measure the backlash before removal so you could duplicate it upon installation.
 
I cant set gears. So id have to have a shop do it. But after they do that, (set my gears,preload, add shims and spacer) I can just unbolt the yoke and swap it out with ease.(unbolt it, swap it, torque it and done?)

I might have this done when I regear and lock it.Have them install shims and spacer with a new yoke. Then i can just keep a spare yoke,ujoints and a regular strap kit.
 
Blk96XJ said:
I cant set gears. So id have to have a shop do it. But after they do that, (set my gears,preload, add shims and spacer) I can just unbolt the yoke and swap it out with ease.(unbolt it, swap it, torque it and done?)

I might have this done when I regear and lock it.Have them install shims and spacer with a new yoke. Then i can just keep a spare yoke,ujoints and a regular strap kit.
Click to expand...
Honestly I think as long as you don't overdo it retorquing the pinion nut with a crush sleeve then you would be fine. It takes significantly more torque to crush the sleeve than the torque needs to be on that nut. Just use a new nut and/or some loctite.
 
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