Ujoint straps

I've read that ujoint straps and bolts should be replaced with new ones, but is that each and every time they are removed?

If for some reason I take them off 10 min. after I initially put them on, do I need to put on new ones? Since it's only 14ft lbs--I didn't think there would be any distortion.

Thanks :dunce:

OK here is a dumb question.... What are u-jount straps and bolts?

They kinda hold the drive shaft on. And they look this these.

Supposedly they should be replaced with new ones whenever a u-joint is taken apart and reassembled. I know for a fact that not everyone does this every time they drop a drive shaft. When my brother plowed with his Jeep he removed the drive shafts twice a year to grease them, and I know he never used new straps.

If they've only been in place ten minutes, I wouldn't hesitate to reuse them. However, I much prefer the u-bolt style. Looks to me like the rear (pinion) yoke on my D35 axles will allow me to drill out the bolt holes and use Ford u-bolts, which is what I intend to do the next time I service the u-joints. Dunno if D44 and 8.25 yokes offer the same flexibility.

They are designed to be under tension when tighened. The FSM says every time. I never did, but if you are pushing the torque envelope doing rock crawling or drag racing, I wouldn't use them too many times before I looked at replacing them. I figure a half dozen times or so if you are pushing the limits, otherwise I wouldn't worry. That is one of the reasons you see people converting to Ubolt setups.

Buy Spicer straps if you can. Two sets that I got from NAPA streched.

I get a lot of use out of my straps, but I don't have much of a chace to go off-road, and I don't put a lot of grunt thru my drivetrain (yet, damn Peugeot!) and I also keep a "dye-check" kit handy for things like this (yes, it saves me money!)

The pratical upshot of all this is that I may have been using the same straps for the last several years - BUT, I change the bolts every time I dismount the joints. They're just 1/4-28x3/4", so you can get them anywhere (I get socket head capscrews by the box for this.) Old ones go on the scrap bin, new ones for each assembly. You'd find that the most comon failure down there is due to a sheared bolt head...

Of course, this is still no substitute for a nice set of steel caps instead of straps - anyone make them for D30/35/44?

5-90

PaulJ said:

Buy Spicer straps if you can. Two sets that I got from NAPA streched.

Click to expand...

thats why they need to be replaced.. i reuse them twice and then throw them in the tool back for trail spares