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Axle u-joint question?

xjtrailrider

xjtrailrider

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
Roanoke VA
96' D-30

I'm putting my spare axle shafts together with 760 u-joints, they seem tight on the outer side (stub axle) but ok on the inner side for both the pass and drivers shafts. Is this normal?

When I mean tight I can rotate the joint by hand but it is with much effort. The clips went in with some help from a light tap with hammer/screw driver.

These are Spicer joints and I kept the caps with the respective sides. The caps rotate freely when not installed. I had to file the landings on the shafts for the clips to get them in and they are still tight.

Are they ok to use?
 
they need to be Set against the clips, tap with a dead blow, they will loosen up
 
Once the u-joint is in and the clips are seated in the grooves, take a ball peen hammer and moderately tap each yoke flange several times on the thick part between the u-joint and the axle shaft. This "settles" the u-joint cap in the yoke hole and the u-joint should move much more freely. Make sure you tap all four yokes in the assembly.
 
fubar XJ said:
Once the u-joint is in and the clips are seated in the grooves, take a ball peen hammer and moderately tap each yoke flange several times on the thick part between the u-joint and the axle shaft. This "settles" the u-joint cap in the yoke hole and the u-joint should move much more freely. Make sure you tap all four yokes in the assembly.
Click to expand...

Got it, thanks Fubar!
 
Well, I've tried all of the suggestions and its still too tight to be acceptable for me.

I've got forearms and a grip like Popeye and I can hardly rotate the u-joint.

It feels like there is metal on metal somewhere, but I've had it back out and apart many times now and there are no needles out of place, caps rotate fine when the u-joint is out of the stub axle?

I almost think that the axles may be bad! As in maybe the hole is out of alignment from one side of the shaft to the other.

I'll take some pics and post later.
 
are the openings that the caps seat into on the yoke clean and free of rust??

even a little bit of crap in there can hinder the movement of the joint

i like to take 220 grit sandpaper on these holes to remove any surface rust or any other crap on the metal before putting in a new joint.......maybe something you could try
 
Fred85 said:
are the openings that the caps seat into on the yoke clean and free of rust??

even a little bit of crap in there can hinder the movement of the joint

i like to take 220 grit sandpaper on these holes to remove any surface rust or any other crap on the metal before putting in a new joint.......maybe something you could try
Click to expand...

Yes, I used glass shot to blast them very clean and deburred the openings.
 
The inner shafts fit the u-joints great and movement is normal but the outsides are not moving properly. I have filled down the clip landings a good bit but the distance between the landings is less at the outside of the cap hole than it is on the inside by about .005". I think I'm going to have to keep filling them down untill it is a good fit. These outer shafts may have seen some u-joint breakage before and it may have bent them up some.

Here are some pics.

After filling down the clip landings
axleshaft1xo0.jpg


The u-joint installed on the other outer shaft, it is the tightest, very hard to move. The clips are completly seated.
axleshaft2vd7.jpg


Does any one see anything out of the ordinary with these outer shafts?
 
When I did mine, the joints were really stuck. I bent the press getting them out and slightly bent the ears on the inner shafts. Not really noticable, but when I reassembled the shaft, I could barely turn the joint and the inside edges of the ears needed to be filed a little for the snap ring to fit. After swearing a bit, I realized the ears were bent. I disassembled the joint, vised up the shaft ears and carefully bent them straight. Everything moved freely when reassembled.
 
jth877 said:
When I did mine, the joints were really stuck. I bent the press getting them out and slightly bent the ears on the inner shafts. Not really noticable, but when I reassembled the shaft, I could barely turn the joint and the inside edges of the ears needed to be filed a little for the snap ring to fit. After swearing a bit, I realized the ears were bent. I disassembled the joint, vised up the shaft ears and carefully bent them straight. Everything moved freely when reassembled.
Click to expand...

I think this is my next step. I wasn't the one who took them apart, whoever did was hard on them as you can see from the marks.

Thanks for everyones help.
 
Fixed! The ears of the shaft were bent and causing the distance to be shorter from the inside of the clip landings to the outside edge, not by much but enough to make the u-joint hard to move. A little bit of angle grinder work on the area and some careful measurments and all is good.

Only thing left to do is to tack weld the caps.

Here is a pic of the original problem.
axleshaft3vn5.jpg
 
The thing I would be concerned about is since the ears were bent, now the holes are off center with eachother. I don't know if that will cause any problems though, especially if the joint moves freely.
 
I don't tack weld my caps in. I use LOTS of grease during assembly and fully weld them in. It makes the unit much stronger. I have yet to break one with my hammer down driving style.

They do wear out on me about every 6 to 9 months. But I wheel EVERY weekend.
 
Good info for all of us to know. I will use an inside mic from now on before re-assembly.
 
KarlVP said:
I don't tack weld my caps in. I use LOTS of grease during assembly and fully weld them in. It makes the unit much stronger. I have yet to break one with my hammer down driving style.

They do wear out on me about every 6 to 9 months. But I wheel EVERY weekend.
Click to expand...

Well I didn't pack mine with grease, just used the grease that was in them.

Will it be ok to fully weld them or will all of the grease burn/boil out?
 
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