god damn Ujoints

:cussing::cussing::cussing::cussing:

I'm at the end of my rope. I'm hoping you all can give me a tip or two on U-joints, specifically with the half shaft flanges. I cannot seem to get the U-joint 'inside' the flange enough to get the clip in on both sides. I've tried cleaning and smoothing the bore, using a little WD-40 with no help. I'm attempting to use a 20 ton shop press to accomplish this. I've already ruined a dead blow from hitting the sockets so hard. Two of the flanges are new and the other two are original. From what I can tell, it is because the flange is bending inwards, not allowing the U-joint to fully seat. I've even smacked the flange, under load of the press, with a dead blow out of desperation. This was before I realized how potentially dangerous that was. Still didn't work...:hunter::clobbered:

I have no issue on the half shaft side. I'm pulling my hair out! How do you all manage to get it done?

Thanks for any help and tips you can provide.

more than likely if you cant install the keeper , the flanges are bent inward, happens sometime during disassembly.( i know!) when removing and installing they need to be bolted to a flange plate to keep them straight. you may be able to straighten them. or get new ones.
http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_info.php?products_id=27204

speedreed8 said:

more than likely if you cant install the keeper , the flanges are bent inward, happens sometime during disassembly.( i know!) when removing and installing they need to be bolted to a flange plate to keep them straight. you may be able to straighten them. or get new ones.
http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_info.php?products_id=27204

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Welcome to the motley crew....there, speedreed8....

and yes, I think you are correct, I have fought similar...

speedreed8 said:

more than likely if you cant install the keeper , the flanges are bent inward, happens sometime during disassembly.( i know!) when removing and installing they need to be bolted to a flange plate to keep them straight. you may be able to straighten them. or get new ones.
http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_info.php?products_id=27204

Click to expand...

:banghead: There's a tool for this?! Ugh. :surrender: That would have been nice to know! Well, I'm pretty confident that they weren't bent when I took the old U-joints out---I cut them out--but I can almost guarantee I bent them trying to put these in. I may just buy all new flanges with the tool and start over. Thanks for the help!

mrvette said:

Welcome to the motley crew....there, speedreed8....

and yes, I think you are correct, I have fought similar...

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I figured somebody had to have a homemade tool or tip. I never knew an actual tool existed. That would have been great to know. Just another lesson.

greg75vette said:

speedreed8 said:

more than likely if you cant install the keeper , the flanges are bent inward, happens sometime during disassembly.( i know!) when removing and installing they need to be bolted to a flange plate to keep them straight. you may be able to straighten them. or get new ones.
http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_info.php?products_id=27204

Click to expand...

:banghead: There's a tool for this?! Ugh. :surrender: That would have been nice to know! Well, I'm pretty confident that they weren't bent when I took the old U-joints out---I cut them out--but I can almost guarantee I bent them trying to put these in. I may just buy all new flanges with the tool and start over. Thanks for the help!

mrvette said:

Welcome to the motley crew....there, speedreed8....

and yes, I think you are correct, I have fought similar...

Click to expand...

I figured somebody had to have a homemade tool or tip. I never knew an actual tool existed. That would have been great to know. Just another lesson.

Click to expand...

I never had an issue with the flanges, just tapped them back apart again, it's a minor bend in the flat surface, maybe try putting it in a vice with a deep well socket on backside of the flange and press it till the loops separate a tad...???

The flanges are bent. I don't recall but I think you're using spicers so the cross is larger then most and that means even a slight bend in the flange isn't going to work and if you force the clip in then it will fall out later and the cap will pop off.


I think I detailed how I do them here, if not then on DC. Once I burn out the old joint and clean up the parts, I will clean the bores, lightly oil them and tap in the caps. I bolt the flanges on a 4" x 4" 3/4" steel plate before I burn them off and again when installing. If the flange rocks on the plate it is bent and I replace them. Some guys play around with bending them back but I don't take that chance.

I only use a press for a final seating of the caps and then install the clips. Place the yoke on a 2x4 and then another 2x4 on top of that and give it a shot with a hammer to final seat the clips and then check the feel of the joints.

Call me if you want to go over it on the phone. I'll be in on Mon out on Tues.

Gary

You can simply bolt two flanges together, cheaper that that plate ..... It's a great tool but damn, $31 for a plate with four threaded holes???

When you try to bend them straight: bolt two together back to back with a small shim (feeler gauge stock works great) between the two and tighten the bolts... Install the Ujoint while the two flanges are bolted together....

Wow were they bent. I spent my late morning getting the old flanges off. I ordered 4 new ones with the plate. Maybe a little expensive, but I like how it has the full flange face for location. A good thing I ordered new, 3 out of the 4 were bent so bad, I couldn't remove the U-joint! I had to cut them in half (which did in my grinder...). Since 2 out of these 3 were original, its not a huge waste. I originally replaced 2 before this job since they were bent from someone else's previous installs. I had your voice in my head, Gary, telling me it's better to just replace than salvage.
The only one I kept felt good, but I'll see once these new ones are installed. If it feels too tight, I'll replace it with the others.

Man, what a pain! Thanks for all the help guys.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

You will see it will be much easier now with the new flanges. The plate I use I made so it sure didn't cost me anything but my time.

Again I really don't use a press until the very end of the install.

Good luck.

thanks for the welcome Mrvette, i have actually lurked around here for some time.

glad you (greg) got the flange situation sorted out. i slightly bent one of mine but was able to straighten it. i have a 2" flat pipe flange that i bolt mine to now, i have to space on the bolt holes with some spacers i made since it doesnt have the groove cut in it, but it works. good luck. :thumbs:

So a little update.
I ordered 4 new flanges and that tool from Willcox that night. The next day I got a "order complete" notice on the website it stated I should have the part with 7-10 business days. Two weeks later, no parts. Call them up and the tool is backordered and they should have it in a week. I called again last week (another two weeks +), still no tool. They refunded me the tool and sent the rest. I received it Oct. 25th, last Friday. I won't be ordering from them again. Every order through them there's an issue I need to get on their case with. I wouldn't have cared half as much if they would be accurate with their inventory and could tell me if something is backordered and not 'complete'. Even if they called me the next day to inform me would have been fine. Instead, I was strung along. I never had an issue with Eckler's and the rest so why support a business that literally can't deliver?

On top of that, the parts look kinda junky:





Not the same I ordered from them a year or so ago. I believe these were repackaged corevetteamerica.com parts, but I'm not sure. If anyone wants to know, I'll check my garbage for the bags they came in. This isn't Willcox's fault, but just goes to show what you get these days.

I sprayed them with metal ready and gave them a quick two coats of rustoleum. I won't keep these for too long. If and when the engine gets beyond 300hp (what it is stock), I'll change them out then.

I'll be bolting two new flanges together to keep them from bending. Man, the trouble I could have saved if I knew of that... I'm hoping to get some of it done tonight if my daughter cooperates :lol: so we'll see.

Another thing,

Looks like I might have gotten some metal shavings in my U-joints when I cut the bent flanges off.

I should be able to simply clean off all the grease and place all the needles back in using new grease, right? Any tricks or tips I should know? I thought U-joint replacement was straightforward and look where that got me :mobeer:

Wilcox is far to busy doing the ttt thing three times a day on each of the CF C-3 pages with their sale of the week items to be bothered with customer service.

Well.... I have these brand new 3" half shafts with solid spicers and new flanges..... bought that stuff for my '79 but ended up using telescopic half shafts..... pm me if interested.....

other than that: yes, that's not a great performance by Wilcox... they should have notified you right away, Summit does that f.e. .... they email you that the back ordered items ship separately as soon as they are available, usually this is only a few days, never had an issue.... too bad they don't sell these flanges or the tool...

redvetracr said:

Wilcox is far to busy doing the ttt thing three times a day on each of the CF C-3 pages with their sale of the week items to be bothered with customer service.

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Wilcox sent me a free window regulator gear... weird because I never ordered such a thing! Something is amiss at their shipping dept. and some other poor sap is cursing @ wilcox because he didn't receive his gear

redvetracr said:

Wilcox is far to busy doing the ttt thing three times a day on each of the CF C-3 pages with their sale of the week items to be bothered with customer service.

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I lol'd. They are ambitious!

MYBAD79 said:

Well.... I have these brand new 3" half shafts with solid spicers and new flanges..... bought that stuff for my '79 but ended up using telescopic half shafts..... pm me if interested.....

other than that: yes, that's not a great performance by Wilcox... they should have notified you right away, Summit does that f.e. .... they email you that the back ordered items ship separately as soon as they are available, usually this is only a few days, never had an issue.... too bad they don't sell these flanges or the tool...

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I'm 90% percent there. Once I clean the joints I'll hopefully be installing the these damn things. If I wasn't so close I'd take you up on the offer. I do appreciate it. If this explodes in my face again, I'll be in touch.

I had a good experience with summit during a back order for aluminum vice jaw inserts for AN fittings. Took forever to get, but they kept me updated--even using post cards--and I happily waited months. They were out of stock everywhere and I don't believe they charged me separate shipping either. Never required one phone call.

Twin_Turbo said:

Wilcox sent me a free window regulator gear... weird because I never ordered such a thing! Something is amiss at their shipping dept. and some other poor sap is cursing @ wilcox because he didn't receive his gear

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It's a shame because they are nice guys, but literally every time I have ordered, there's been some issue. I always hear how great their CS is, but I've learned in life that a company on the ball doesn't always need good CS because you won't have to call if they get it right the first time!

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 2

Well, I finished painting the new flanges and began to install the u-joints on Saturday. Turns out, they were still a bit off. Out of the four I bought, I could only fit u-joints in two. The others were a bit too thick in their casting:


At the peak, they measured anywhere from 0.680" to 0.730". Anything below 0.700" fit a u-joint fine, so I took out my favorite tool and ground down the inside surface then deburred the bore. That did the trick. I didn't have time to paint the ground area, but I'll be taking out the rear suspension--again--later on in the winter. I have some other surfaces to paint, so it'll be one more thing.

After that, things went alright. I still needed to get tricky with a punch to get the lock rings to seat in the flanges, but they are in!

I was then able to install the 1/2 shafts back in, nearly two years after removing them. I slapped on the tires and set her down on her own four wheels. Yesterday, I was finally able to get her off the lift, move the lift into the garage and roll her up. It took four of us to get her up on the lift (alignment issues), but we did it.

Now to take the rear end out again. :lol: Or I might get back on wiring. I'm not sure at the moment. It's just nice to know I have options again and She's FINALLY in the garage.


Thanks for all the help.

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs: