What kind of hardware is everyone using to secure their U-joints to the pinion yoke? I never had problems in the past, but when I pulled the tranny in November, the nuts on the saddles were pretty loose.

With help from CAM70SS396 ;p :thumbsup: , yesterday I got the tranny reinstalled. I put the driveshaft back in and methodically tightened all the nuts on the saddles. Later, I had to go back out and remove the driveshaft. When I did, I removed one nut.....and the other nut on the saddle, just completely loosened up and felt like I had never even put a wrench on it. I KNOW I had tightened it up originally, because I took my time and triple-checked all 4 of them. Anyway, then on the other saddle, the other 2 nuts rounded off like they were made of soft goo. I tossed them all.

What kind of saddles, straps, etc. are you guys using? What about lockwashers and nuts? Any particular grade stuff? Do you put anything on the threads to keep the nuts locked on there?

Like I said, never had a problem before. Now it's like they won't stay on there. I had been doing some racing at the track in the prior year, so I guess I was putting more stress than usual in that area, but I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong during the should-be-easy installation process. :confused:

Thanks!

I just installed a new drive shaft with spicer u-joints from Denny's Driveshafts....(posted a big plug form them a few days ago). I inquired about the saddles and they stated the good old u-type strap with lock washers will do the trick....shouldn't even need any form of Locktite. Interestingly, the bolts should only be torqued down to 17lbs a piece. Doesn't sound or feel like much, but that's what the spec's say and they stated all that is needed.

Wow, 17 ft.lbs. I've been tightening them as much as I can. Wow, again.

I have the straps that go over the u-joint with a simple nut on the backside. Is there a better setup that than? I'm not using lockwashers, but I'm going to see if I scrounge some up.

Can one get new u-joint straps at the parts store, btw? I may do that for piece of mind.

Thanks!

Yup, only 17 lbs...confrimed that with a number of references. Yes, you should use lock washers, and yes you can find the straps at the local auto parts store.

Thanks for the heads-up, drielly. I'll probably buy some new straps, nuts and lockwashers at the parts store for cheap insurance. Then I'll do my best to not yang on them during installation.

Hey Guys,

Further to this discussion, should there be some type of "tabs" or girdle holding the u-joint in place ? My old 10-bolt had the tabs on the yoke. My new 12 bolt does not and I am using the strap type u-bolts to fasten the u-joint to yoke. Should I be concerned about the u-joint moving left to right in the yoke ?

Thanks.

I know that you can get brand-new hardware from NAPA and it is nice quality stuff. The reason you only want to torque to 17lbs-ft is because if you over-tighten you distort the bearing caps and the u-joint will wear out prematurely. Also, when you loosen one side of the u-joint strap up it will more than likely result in the other side of the strap becoming loose. This is normal. You should have a simple split-lock washer under each nut.

For BigBlockBeaumont I believe that you need to use the u-joint caps for that style of yoke. I would definitely say do not drive your car without some form of positive locating for the u-joint.

Ehjorton,

Would the Moroso u-joint girdles address this ? I've been doing searches and can't find much on this yoke missing the tabs.

Thanks.

There are two methods...from the factory there are two styles of yokes: Ones with locating tabs and ones for c-clips. It sounds like you have a yoke for use with c-clips. The c-clips go to the inside of the caps and fit into a recess on the yoke. The other method is to use the moroso caps. Check out this link Yoke Styles (http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/html/d_e.html)

EHJ,

Ha, ha. Funny you should show me this link - I phoned Denny's today and asked them about this. They pointed me in this direction - I actually just got back from the parts store and got the right u-joint with c-clips.

Thanks!!

Great! I got a new nitrous ready driveshaft from them last year for my '69 so that link was fresh in my mind.