Hi, Steve.
Changing U joints is tricky but by no means impossible...
What U need
New joints
Tipp-Ex or paint to mark up the yokes for realignment.
A good pair of circlip pliers
Big engineer's vice
Soft mallet
Combination spanners
Sockets
Grease gun and grease
What U do to dismantle
Jack the car and secure on stands.
Clean off the flanges at each end and apply a spot of Tipp-Ex to each pair
of flanges (i.e. shaft to gearbox, shaft to axle.)
Unbolt the flanges-nuts & captive bolts at front, conventional nuts & bolts
at the back. Use the ring end of the spanners where possible.
Remove driveshaft rearwards.
Clean shaft and mark relationship of end yokes to shaft
On the bench, use circlip pliers to squeeze circlip eyes together and remove
clips.
Clamp shaft in vice near one end (don't overtighten), with the yoke UJ eyes
in vertical plane.
Hold flange vertical and tap down on top edge. UJ cup underneath will start
protruding out of its location-take it as far as it will go by tapping.
Turn shaft 180 deg. and repeat for opposite cup. You can then grip the loose
cups' edges in the vice and tap the shaft off them sideways.
Take the yoke now released and adjust the vice so the naked ends of the UJ
spider (cross shaped) will sit on the vice jaws.
Repeat the above procedure to release the cups from the yoke.
Do it all again for the other end.
What U do to reassemble
Clean up the parts, making sure the circlip grooves are free of
rust/dirt/grit.
Arrange two of the new cups and a UJ spider in one yoke so that you can
squeeze two opposite cups in simultaneously with your vice, whilst
incorporating the centre in those cups.
Keeping the cups aligned with their eyes, gently squeeze them in as far as
they will go. Keep checking that the centre can move in the cups.
Select a suitable socket and put it between one cup and the vice. This will
allow you to push the cup in more, so that you can get to the circlip
groove.
Fit a circlip in the groove revealed, swap the socket over to the opposite
cup and repeat, fitting the other circlip.
Assemble the remaining pair of cups to the shaft and repeat the above steps.
you may need help here-the shaft part is unwieldy.
Do it all again at the other end.
Refit the shaft to the car and tighten.
Grease the joints, including the sliding yoke at the front.
Check the bolts are still tight after 100 miles
What U need to watch...
When removing the shaft, make sure that *all* the relationships get marked,
so that the ends will go back in the correct relation to the shaft and the
shaft will go back in the correct relation to the car's flanges.
Don't wipe off the marks by mistake.
When tapping, you can use reasonable force, provided you use a soft-faced
hammer. UJ eyes are tough but are not indestructible.
When it's all apart, check that you haven't made a burr anywhere. If you
have, file it off.
If need be, add a little extra thick grease to the UJ cups, to keep the
needle rollers in place.
If there are grease nipples on the joints, these are angled towards the
shaft, not towards the yokes.
When squeezing cups in, make sure they are aligned with their eyes. If the
spider binds and everything is aligned, a needle roller may have become
dislodged. If this happens STOP and draw the cup out again.
Always squeeze cups in with a steady, slow action.
Never tap a new cup in-doing so will certainly dislodge a roller.
Make *absolutely* certain that the new circlips are properly seated.
Don't worry if the new joints are stiff to move. This is just the grease
seals acting in compression. Provided the spiders move smoothly, it's OK.
Make sure the yoke and flange faces are clean before refitting the shaft and
make sure that they are fully seated, so there is no gap between the flanges
when the bolts are tight.
Generally, you can alter the order in which you do this work-e.g. shaft cups
out before yoke cups-it makes no difference.
BTW, it gets easier after the 20th UJ change :-)
Regards,
Dave Hill
Can I Telework for you? See what I do, at...
http://www.angelfire.com/biz4/davtel/index.html
Troubled by a phobia? Know someone who has one? Go to...
http://www.angelfire.com/de/ukphobias/index.html
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Conley <swconley@foxinternet.net>
To: <Thecarguru@aol.com>; MG List <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2000 6:06 PM
Subject: U-joints
> I've been told I need new U-joints (The dreaded "click")
> What kind of a DIY project is this? As far as parts go, do I just need to
> get new U-joints, or are there additional parts that are required?
> Any tips/tricks?
> Thanks,
>
> Steve Conley
> Marysville, WA USA
> '76 MGB Roadster
> swconley@foxinternet.net
> MGB Online: http://web3.foxinternet.net/swconley
> NW MG Golf Tournament/Rallye :
http://web3.foxinternet.net/swconley/golf.htm
>
>
>
>
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