Gauging Interest: U-joint retention caps

Hi guys, I happened to be at Pro Gear today having some axle machining work done and was talking to the owner Mark about these cool looking u-joint retaining caps for a 1310 yoke. I guess he had this made up hoping they would be popular with the Jeep crowd but they haven't got the exposure with walk in traffic they hoped for. I thought they were very cool and would post about them and see if anyone was interested in these.

They are machined, Titainum caps with Grade 8 cap screw hardware. They are basically bulletproof and should end any breakage of the retainers. They are going for $45 for a pair (one yoke).

Post up if you are interested in buying them and if enough interest, I may put together a "group buy" and be the contact for this. I though some of the hard core guys might really like these. Here's a couple pics.

If there is no clearance issues, I would be game for a couple sets.

im in for 1 set for sure i'll let my hot rod street racer buddies know about these as well. if it fits an XJ ujoint it fits a standard chevy #369 ujoint, and would work for older chevy hot rodders... just in case he wanted to expand his market a bit

Not to question you, but are you sure the cap material is Titanium?

That, and I didn't know they made grade 8 cap screws. I guess I never really needed any, so I've never looked.

This makes sense, especially in the rock crawling community. Strength + the edges won't get rounded off on rocks like hex heads do. And then the whole edges being encased like that is cool. Hopefuly to prevent a ujoint getting spit out.

I'd be interested in a set for the Dana 30. My rear yoke is on an adapter plate for the 8.8

Russ Pottenger said:

Not to question you, but are you sure the cap material is Titanium?

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I kinda wonder myself - looks more like tool steel, or some similar alloy (Stellite?)

Socket head capscrews make sense - I even use them on regular U-joint straps (easier to work with than the reduced hex head, I think.)

That is an interesting idea tho. Now, if there was room, I'd say to couple it with machining of the yoke (as an option) to run the screws in from the backside, and thread the cap. Or drill out the threads in the yoke, spotface the back, and drill/tap the cap to accept studs. But, that's just me - and that would be well down the road...

Interesting... I'll keep an eye on this thread...

Curt

Russ Pottenger said:

Not to question you, but are you sure the cap material is Titanium?

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First off, Mark is a very stand up guy and one of the few shops I trust having work done at. I had no doubt to question him BUT to statisfy the question, I took the cap off this morning. It is lighter then the two cap screws by about half. It is not magnetic and feels like Titanium. I make that claim base on the fact my wife and I have Titanium wedding rings and the caps feel like our rings.

He also said the application is for Jeeps and I won't make any claim to it fitting any other yokes. I know I checked on my Chevy truck 12 bolt (which uses 1310 joints) and the bolt spacing in the yoke would not place the cap in the correct location and went along with what Mark told me. If anyone wants them for a non Jeep application, there is no claim they will work.

You might be asking what's my stake in this? One is, I know people have had problems with breaking the straps/bolts in the stock application and thought this was a very cool and HD method of solving that problem. Second, if I can get about 25 pairs ordered (not people, so if one person orders 25 pairs, same deal), he'll cover the two pairs I want. If I don't, then I will just buy my own and be done with it, so that's my motivation.

If enough people want them, then I need to figure out shipping, payment info, etc. so I'll have some time invested in this process.

Hope this answers some questions. Post up if interested. Thanks.

Interesting.

You've made a few mentions that this is Jeep only. Have you (or Mark....) tried these caps on both a D35C and an 8.25 yoke?

id be interested in a pair as well

They look like Titanium to me from the pic, so I will take two sets as soon as possible. How soon can I get them? Don't care about the killer deal if the wait could be shorter. Im bored

ChiXJeff said:

Interesting.

You've made a few mentions that this is Jeep only. Have you (or Mark....) tried these caps on both a D35C and an 8.25 yoke?

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Mark told me these fit D30, D35 and 8.25 (I'm not sure what a D35C is compared to a Jeep D35). I'm going to see him this afternoon and I'll triple make sure of applications.

FordGuy said:

They look like Titanium to me from the pic, so I will take two sets as soon as possible. How soon can I get them? Don't care about the killer deal if the wait could be shorter. Im bored

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Let me see what I can do. I am going by the shop this after work today. I'll let ya know.

xj_mike said:

Mark told me these fit D30, D35 and 8.25 (I'm not sure what a D35C is compared to a Jeep D35). I'm going to see him this afternoon and I'll triple make sure of applications.

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Cool. I haven't spit out a u-joint cap yet, but it's tempting to buy a couple of those.

I am also interested - will they also fot a D44?

89er said:

I am also interested - will they also fot a D44?

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Let me find out this afternoon. Mark did not directly mention those but I also did not ask since I don't have one.

I'm not sure, its pretty and i bet its strong, but I've got a baggy full of straps and the screws for them that I got from the junkyard for $2.

i'd be in for a couple sets....besides, ti anything is sweet!
i saw something like this before, but they were aluminum so i passed on those.

IslanderOffRoad said:

I'm not sure, its pretty and i bet its strong, but I've got a baggy full of straps and the screws for them that I got from the junkyard for $2.

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And how sure are you that the straps aren't stretched? I've already ruined a pinion yoke and a gear set with what started as a mis-seated u-joint and a stretched strap.

ChiXJeff said:

And how sure are you that the straps aren't stretched? I've already ruined a pinion yoke and a gear set with what started as a mis-seated u-joint and a stretched strap.

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I was not aware strap stretching was a problem. I busted the head off one of the bolts on a strap once, thats the only problem I've had with them.