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TR2/3/3A Prop shaft U-joint replacement TR3A

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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I've noticed some deceleration rattling and rear-end wobble in TeeYah over the last few months. Crawled underneath and grabbed the prop shaft, twisted back and forth and saw some play in the rear U-joint cups.

There's a good discussion of U-joint work on a 79 Spitfire here:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcforum/u...true#Post204863

Are there some specific TR3 caveats you folks would warn me about before I raise the rear end and perform the surgery in the next week or so? Are the AdvanceAuto (PDQ) U-joints with zerks good enough? Do I need "special" joints from Moss or TRF? Will a five-inch vise push them free? I've already got new bolts and nylocs.

Thanks.
Tom
 
I always mark the flanges so I get the thing back on in the exact same orientation as before. No idea if this is necessary but it only takes a second to stamp A-A & B-B or whatever on the flanges.

I used the Hardy-Spicer U-joints just because.
 
Watch to see that the yokes aren't oversize where the cups go into place. It's easy to not notice when a bearing seizes in these, and the result is a worn yoke.

Not sure about a 5" vice, think mine is 6" /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif I've seen John Kipping do it with nothing more than a BFH & his hands, but I'm not that good.

FWIW, I found that Nylocs, even new ones, weren't staying tight for me. Probably my driveshaft is somewhat out of balance or something. Anyway, I switched to "domed lock nuts" which use a metal-to-metal interference rather than nylon, and they never come loose. Eg MMC 92501A430 (although I'm not sure if that's the right size offhand)
https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?pagenum=3115
 
Who was it? Not too long ago, Dale? {Tinster} had a Ujoint encounter with Crypty. As I recall he actualy had a shop install the cross in his yoke, and they, {it seems to me as I remember} messed up one of the bearings. {got it outta place and it resulted in the bearing caps not fitting the yoke}
If you can get the yoke in the vise with about two inches {Maybe a tad less} extra room. Your vise will work.
Just be extra careful not to dislodge any of the needles on assembly {they end up in the top of the bearing cap and will not let it seat in the yoke properly.
If you are not comfortable doing this job {Simple as it is to some} I strongly recomend taking it to a driveline specialty shop.{they do NOTHING but driveshafts} They can re assemble it in a jiffy and the price tag isn`t all that bad. Some will even give you a limited warrentee.
My .02 Cents worth.
Kerry
 
Hello Tom,

a couple of additional points:- I always keep the orientation of the flange to the propellor shaft when replacing joints, one precaution against upsetting the balance. Check the flanges haven't been distorted by previous work, typically hammer blows which upset the mating face.

Alec
 
Hola Tom,

I replaced all my u-joints with Hardy-Spicer.
Yes, a local shop buggered up one of mine by
being sloppy.

Make sure you carefully remove the needles, clean
them of the temporary grease and carefully reinstall
with proper grease.

Be extra, extra careful when you first push the needle
bearing cap onto the cross piece. Otherwise a needle
will pop out and you will end up with this mess:

shatter.jpg


needle.jpg


Best of luck!!
 
I have used U-Joints from Advance on LBCs. If they have two grades to choose from, go for the more expensive ones with the longer warranty. You get what you pay for.

As for the zerks, on every car where I've had u-joints tapped for zerks, the grease nipple could be used to lube (or re-lube) the joint but the fitting could not be left in place when the car was in service. I have always pumped the joint full of new, good grease (like Dale mentioned above) and replaced the zerk with a set screw as a plug.

I have yet to see the nyloc nuts loosen on any of the driveshaft flanges I've worked on. The metal-to-metal lock nuts sound like a good solution to this problem. When I've had to re-use nyloc nuts I always apply Loctite-242 (blue) during re-assembly.
 
The zerks on the TR3/A can be left in place, but you need special long zerks to be able to reach them with a grease gun while the joint is installed. If your new UJs come without the long zerks, you can probably rob them from the old UJs.

But the right UJ will come with the long zerk.
 
dklawson said:
As for the zerks, on every car where I've had u-joints tapped for zerks, the grease nipple could be used to lube (or re-lube) the joint but the fitting could not be left in place when the car was in service. I have always pumped the joint full of new, good grease (like Dale mentioned above) and replaced the zerk with a set screw as a plug.
Click to expand...

A couple questions to the listerati: I'm buttoning up my '74's trans tunnel, and I'm surprised to see in the owner's manual no mention of greasing the center UJ. The book does mention the steering unit, and using a 1/8 B.S.P. Parallel zerk. I'm guessing the center UJ should be lubed, and I'm assuming this is the same size as the center UJ screw..... Is this a common size? I'll back out the screw and head down to a real FLAPS anyway, but forewarned is forearmed, or something like that....
 
The TR6 driveshaft u-joints I've seen have tapped holes for 1/4-28 zerks. I can't imagine on any that there would be room for 1/8" zerks.
 
dklawson said:
The TR6 driveshaft u-joints I've seen have tapped holes for 1/4-28 zerks.
Click to expand...

Correct, 1/4" 28 zerks do fit. I went to three FLAPS, and couldn't get a long zerk fitting. I had to grind down the sides of the grease "hose" fitting with a Dremel, to fit the grease coupling down into the zerk; it was hanging up in the UJ. One more thing done.....
 
If for some reason your drive shaft seperates into two peices be sure to get them lined up again. The ends should be in the same position.
My understanding of this is that if they are not aligned it causes binding and wear.
I used the BF Hammer method, the first time I did it on a 72 Spitfire when I was about 20 I learned the hard way to use a brass rod and not try to hit the cups with the hammer itself. 30 years later I use a vice and an old socket.
 
Bill said:
If for some reason your drive shaft seperates into two peices be sure to get them lined up again.
Click to expand...
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif The original TR3 shaft shouldn't separate unless you unscrew the collar (or it's damaged). But if it does, the important part is to get the flanges lined up so the cups are in the same plane. Otherwise you'll get vibration under load.

Probably not a bad idea to deliberately undo the collar & remove the sliding yoke, though, if it hasn't been done in the last 10 years or so. Just to clean out the old grease and put some new grease on the splines. And if you're doing it on purpose, you can make some marks to reassemble it the same way it was.
 
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