73 Dodge TIOGA B30 Driveshaft U joints-I was wrong
From : spud
Q: thanks guys; acknowledge daniel rex ray and pa-ter. i goofed again yes i was measuring the overall l length as it applies to single cardan universal joints with 4 plain round bearings links to online diagrams i found from a chinese manufacturer http//www.universal-joint.com.cn/class6.htm its amazing how many people dont realize how to copy and paste. highlight the address by left clicking the mouse and scrolling over the address then holding the cursor over the highlighted text right click mouse and copy then open internet explorer and right click to paste in address window to see it not the outside groove length o as it applies to single cardan universal joints with 4 grooved round bearings. http//www.universal-joint.com.cn/class7.htm the caps for the new precision 315g bearings are much taller but did fit and lock in the driveshaft yoke next to see that the taller caps fit in the pinion yoke as they should the yoke holds the universal joint by means of bolted straps and cap end buttress stops that center the universal and driveshaft i have never checked to see if there was excess clearance across the caps and the pinion yoke cap stops i guess i should bear in mind the possibility of not correctly centering a driveshaft because of shorter than original cap l length in an aftermarket replacement. if the new replacement fits correctly into the pinion yoke this afternoon that would mean that the original u joint and driveshaft could have been mounted in such a manner as to be 1/16 off center at the back end ive never explored this possibility before . i suppose that careful centering of the cross in the yoke and the use of an epoxy like locktite 660 quickmetal under the straps and between the caps and yoke stops could aid in truing up the alignment-- what say might save a few gear clamps yup i got the grease nipple on the right side--made that mistake before too and had an inaccessible grease nipple facing into the pinion yoke. spud on thu 15 jul 2004 232741 -0400 daniel j. stern dastern@127.0.0.1 wrote ||on fri 16 jul 2004 spud wrote || || i tried to pick up a new set of driveshaft u joints for my 1973 dodge || b30 tioga mohom its a 360 automatic with 1 piece driveshaft. the || driveshaft universal joints i have dont appear to exist in the jobber || computer parts book. || || the jobber supplied me with 1 precision 315g 3.25 overall across caps || x 1.08 dia. caps and 1 precision 316 3.65 overall across caps x || 1.127 dia caps according to the parts book both joints could be 315gs || or there could be a 315g on the front and a 316 on the rear. || || neither would fit they are too big my original crosses are both || 3.137 overall across caps x 1.08 dia. caps || ||you have here an overall cross measurement overage of an utterly trivial ||0.113 or approximately 1.4mm extra length on each side. this is not ||nearly enough to make the joint too big. i disagree. 1.4mm is about the thickness of a snapring. its certainly within typical variations across different u-joint numbers. motorhomes are know to have wildcard parts. it may be a nice standard m400 or whatever chassis but it could have bastard parts all over it. just because that bare chassis rolls into the motorhome plant with mopar u-joints doesnt mean it will still have them when the final product rolls out the other end. they may have decided to re-engineer that driveshaft for any number of reasons which seem good to them at the time. having said that generally speaking a 360 drivetrain uses the smaller 315 joints. 315 is a precision number. precision is a division of federal mogul. napa joints are probably precision. other good brands are neapco and spicer. you need to be aware that the critical dimension is not the length to the end of the caps but rather the length to the outer edge of the snapring grooves. in other words the inside width of the yoke. heres what precision says slightly abbreviated 1st measure od to make sure the cups are the same size. 2nd remove the seals from the cups and and re-install the cups on the cross. measure from the inside edges of the lockrings. then measure both lockrings thickness together. the sum of those two measurements should be equal to or slightly less than the yoke span. the chart shows a 315 to be 2.125 inches with 1.078 cups. **no other joint of this type uses that cup size**. 316 is 1/2 wider with 1.125 cups so theres no mistaking the difference. the combo 315/316 joint stern referred to is a 347 also make sure the yoke faces are still parallel. they can get adjusted during the removal process. good luck texas parts guy .
Replies:
From : rex b
on fri 16 jul 2004 191812 gmt spud nospam.davidaanderson@shaw.ca wrote ||the caps for the new precision 315g bearings are much taller but did fit and ||lock in the driveshaft yoke next ||to see that the taller caps fit in the pinion yoke as they should the yoke ||holds the universal joint by means of ||bolted straps and cap end buttress stops that center the universal and ||driveshaft i have never checked to ||see if there was excess clearance across the caps and the pinion yoke cap ||stops i guess i should bear in ||mind the possibility of not correctly centering a driveshaft because of ||shorter than original cap l length ||in an aftermarket replacement. || ||if the new replacement fits correctly into the pinion yoke this afternoon ||that would mean that the original u joint and driveshaft could have been ||mounted in such a manner as to be 1/16 off center at the back end ive ||never explored this possibility before . i suppose that careful centering of ||the cross in the yoke and the use of an epoxy like locktite 660 quickmetal ||under the straps and between the caps and yoke stops could aid in truing up ||the alignment-- ive never known alignment at the rear yoke to be an issue. a small mopar joint is the sal length oal regardless of how long the cups are. that rear yoke is made for that exact length. it will work. just install it. texas parts guy .