Side yokes

MYBAD79

MYBAD79

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Price seems to good to be true. These are $90 each including the caps but it looks like the caps are cast material ??? GM yokes are $120 each without the cap... Wonder what VanSteel is selling (no photo on their website) ... I'm going to end up buying from my usual part source anyways (can't go wrong with either Mike or Gary) but I'm wondering about the cast caps in this Ebay auction.... When looking at photos on the web it seems the HD caps are milled from billet steel, however all the photos show silver bolts that look like Grade5... Most Grade8 bolts I see are gold....


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1963-79-Cor...te&vxp=mtr&hash=item5d3045f62d#ht_3699wt_1056

Since the link won't work after that Ebay auction is outdated, here's a pic that shows the difference on the caps:

214eba811e47b6f.jpg


And what's the difference between these ?? The left one os for a BB, right is for a SB "standard duty"....

214ebae29d74f2f.jpg

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MYBAD79 said:
Price seems to good to be true. These are $90 each including the caps but it looks like the caps are cast material ??? GM yokes are $120 each without the cap... Wonder what VanSteel is selling (no photo on their website) ... I'm going to end up buying from my usual part source anyways (can't go wrong with either Mike or Gary) but I'm wondering about the cast caps in this Ebay auction.... When looking at photos on the web it seems the HD caps are milled from billet steel, however all the photos show silver bolts that look like Grade5... Most Grade8 bolts I see are gold....


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1963-79-Cor...te&vxp=mtr&hash=item5d3045f62d#ht_3699wt_1056
Click to expand...

denpo said:
:chinese:
Click to expand...

Denpo nailed it, I can almost tell from the caps, and surely on the price.....

I paid like 125? each for my yokes from Yogi Bair (sp?) and there was a core charge because he had a machine shop and remanned them.....but this was in '95.....been fine since...no end play....

:photo:
 
I don't know whose yokes those are but at that price I suspect they're imports. I looked at some new yokes a few years ago, thought there were good. I ordered a few sets and even sold one set to Paul here. I had checked the hardness, spline fit and journal OD all looked good. Then I went to install a set into a tuned posi, which usually means I have to grind the face a few thousands. The new yokes had over 030" endplay- NG. I checked the snap ring groove location and found it was WAY off, I returned all of them including the set I shipped to Paul. NEVER Again. What has happened lately was vendors couldn't get in rebuilt GM HD yokes and had to look elsewhere and this is what has happened. Those look like the ones I had years ago but I can't say for sure they are.
The original GM caps were good,they fit the joint cap correctly. I've seen a few aftermarket caps that were machined very nice they just didn't fit the caps. If there is too much rock in the cap it will bind up the joint once torqued. If the cap bottoms out then it will be too loose. This is just like fitting diff bearing caps.
I'm not sold that "HD" yokes are much stronger then the U-bolt yokes for a street car. I've broken joint in half on a u-bolt yoke and not had any problem with the yoke or bolts. For a true HP street/strip car then I use the caps and fit them.
 
I thought the half shaft joints are all 1350 with 2.5" shafts and 3" shafts ????

On a few websites I noticed that some side yokes are advertized as "small block" or "big block" - didn't know there's a difference... some yokes are offered for C3 Corvettes with BigBlock from 63-79 although the last year for a BB C3 was 74 if I remember correctly, definitely wasn't an option in 78/79.....
 
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personally I would rather use a genuine GM (NOT GM restoration) "re-tipped" by someone like Lonestar than any of this Chinese shit.....those caps came cast on the factory cars. just to add to what Gary posted I had a set of the HD yokes from China, looked good until I tried bolting a HD cap to it, the holes were drilled wrong and the cap hung over the side of the yoke....down the road they went.
 
All 63-79 1/2 shaft joints are 1350. Tom's are 1350 or 1480. The 1480 monsters are used when I build the 1000hp 12-bolt diff and require Tom's 1/2 shafts.

I've seen, but not used, International axles,they're pretty good. The Tom's I think are stronger but I also treat them. The rebuilt ones, from Lone Star, are also good but not as strong as the others. For a 450hp under car they're fine and again I'd use the std yokes. I like to use Tom's when I get into the 450-1000hp builds.

Many times I see people advertise a HD BB diff making it sound like they're special. The difference between them and the "lowly" SB- the "HD" yokes and the numbers stamped in them. NO DIFFERENCE inside a stock or common rebuilt differential.
 
as always, great advice.... even if they're not stronger - as long as they're not weaker, i prefer the cap style, just have to make sure to either get good quality or make it fit correctly.... there's just something about this U bolt that i don't like....
I'm well under 450 hp so strength is not the #1 issue, fitment is.... but I'd hate having .040" play with the new yokes

Gary, there actually is a difference between the BB and the SB yokes: $10

:lol:
 
the $10 difference was a "not so serious" comment about the screenshot that I posted in the first post.... funny that you really don't see a difference at all but the SB yoke is $10 less.....

Gary, when you say "the same", how much is that ?
 
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