Tom,
I went through this a few years ago, before finally deciding to toss the
whole torque tube and convert to an open drive. The yokes are pretty much a
junkyard item. Although at one time Jim Carter, I think, found and bought a
NOS cache of them in South America or someplace, I'm sure they are long
gone by now. Even then they were priced at around $100. You might try
Obsolete Chevy or some of the other suppliers - A good used yoke would be
preferable to welding your old one, but you may have no other choice.
The yokes and joints inside the torque tube require constant lubrication
from the tranny grease. Usually the problems start when the seal and bushing
inside the tube wear out. Then all the 90w from the transmission works its
way into the rear end. The axle seals usually being worn out too, it ends up
in the brake drums. That causes its own set of problems, but in the mean
time the U-joints and yokes are whipping around with little or nothing to
keep them lubricated - to say nothing of the poor transmission whose lube
has all gone south.
The torque tube system has some good points, mainly positive axle location ,
but longevity and ease of maintenance are not among them. I don't think GM
planned on some of these trucks still being around after 100K + miles. Good
luck finding a replacement, I'll keep my eye out at the swap meets for a
yoke.
Jack / Winter Park FL
-----Original Message-----
From: TomGreer@aol.com <TomGreer@aol.com>
To: oletrucks@autox.team.net <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Date: Friday, March 05, 1999 11:31 PM
Subject: [oletrucks] torque tube U-joint rebuild
>Well, the rear yoke (the long one) on the U-joint assembly looks like its
shot
>on my driveline. Has anyone had any luck (good or bad) in rebuilding the
>yoke?
>
>It looks like the bearings wore through and the trunion kept ovalizing the
>holes in the yoke and caused enough wear on the yoke to break through (can
you
>follow that?) Looks like it could be welded and bored out and I would be
fine.
>I've talked to a couple machine shops ; one said no problem, but it will
cost
>$100, the other shop said get another yoke - that by heating to weld, it
could
>cause problems down the road (SNAP!!)
>
>After MUCH searching at the local auto shops / junk yards, I found another
>yoke (with good bearings and a new trunion), but the "Bearing end" where it
>goes into the torque tube is 0.050" smaller than my existing one and that
>bearing surface is not that round/smooth. Looks like this one would cause
me
>more driveline problems than I've got now - I'd rather use another.
>
>Are the yokes available "NEW"?
>What do they cost?
>Any extras out there?
>
>Thanks for whateve two cents you can offer,
>
>Tom
>'49 delux 3100 that really really wants to get out of the garage and roll
over
>30mph...
>
>
>
>oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
>
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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