Hi folks,
A short while ago there was a thread about what might happen when a drive
shaft universal joint decides to give up the ghost while the car is moving.
Guess what happened to me yesterday?
Early this week I thought I felt some odd vibration in the drivetrain. It's
been a very busy week and I've had to burn the midnight oil at the home computer
until about midnight to meet an engineering commitment for today (Friday). As a
result, I didn't have (didn't take) time to check out the vibration. It got
worse as the week went on. Optimist that I am, I hoped that it would stay in
the nuisance category until tonight when I'd have time to check it out. Wrong!
On the way home from work yesterday the front u-joint completely separated.
Fortunately, it happened when I was in the right hand lane of a major highway
and was only going about 35 mph in rush hour traffic. It had been preceded by
heavy vibrations while accelerating in stop-and-go traffic. There was a sudden
'bang' from underneath followed by the sound of something heavy banging against
the floor.
I probably traveled about 30 to 40 feet before I was off of the pavement
and safely out of the traffic. I looked underneath to see if anything was
hanging down, but there was nothing to see. As I was calling AAA on the
tool-kit cell phone a Mass. State Trooper pulled up and offered to call a AAA
tow truck for me. Hooray for AAA Plus, I was about 30 miles from home. The tow
truck operator listened to my plea and took pity on the rear brake lines. (Yes
David Deutsch, I did tip him.)
When I got underneath it last night I saw the damage. The front u-joint is
totally broken, The underside of the floorpan has dimples from having been
banged by the pieces. Two of the flange bolts/nuts are somewhat chewed up.
That's not a trivial problem, the flange bolts can only be replaced by removing
the flange from the output of the transmission. The front yoke of the
driveshaft is beyond repair.
Looks as if the BFromHell is going to play donor again until I can find a
front yoke. (Maybe at the Westminster Autojumble on 10/10?) I was able to find
a pair of new u-joints at AutoZone for $9/each. I'll put them into the shaft
before I do the swap tomorrow. I'm just grateful that I wasn't going faster
when it broke, and that it didn't happen last week on the 1100 mile MA/DC/MA
trip.
I'm sure that Ed Kaler is snickering and saying "that'll teach him to
grease all of the fittings!"
Bud Krueger
52TD (did today's commute)
77MGB (feeling neglected)
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