Discussion
I went into my local factors yesterday to pick up a couple of wheel bearings for the 350i. Whilst I was in there I got chatting about half-shaft refurbishment. Although they said they could either refurbish or get parts for the universal joints they were a bit cagey about availability.
I'm happy to do the refurb myself but don't want to dismantle the UJ and then find they can't get the correct size of cup for me.
Does anyone have a good reliable source who would be able to get the parts out to me pronto without having to wait for stock to come in or anything silly like that?
Hope to get the half-shaft off tonight and order tomorrow.
Cheers
Adi
I'm happy to do the refurb myself but don't want to dismantle the UJ and then find they can't get the correct size of cup for me.
Does anyone have a good reliable source who would be able to get the parts out to me pronto without having to wait for stock to come in or anything silly like that?
Hope to get the half-shaft off tonight and order tomorrow.
Cheers
Adi
Thanks guys.
I had a look at the drive shafts this evening and it looks like a fairly major bit of work to remove one in respect of the fact that the lower shock bolt on the hub mounting needs to come out and the other similar bolt on the front side of the hub mounting.Only 2 bolts, I know. But the spring will need clamping etc and I suspect that the bolts are a wotsit to remove.
I did remove the nuts which hold the inner end of the shaft to the disc. They were easy enough.
I have also attempted to measure the cup diameter and the overall length. So I will check that against the spec of the 2 parts that have been mentioned.
The factors were expressing concern over accurate measurement of the UJ stating that some are very close in dimension to others so if yoiu get it just a bit wrong you could be stuffed. But, I guess, they're not that expensive so if I order them tomorrow I will have them for the weekend (rain or not!!)
Any of you guys actually taken the half shaft off before? Is it fairly straight forward?
A.
I had a look at the drive shafts this evening and it looks like a fairly major bit of work to remove one in respect of the fact that the lower shock bolt on the hub mounting needs to come out and the other similar bolt on the front side of the hub mounting.Only 2 bolts, I know. But the spring will need clamping etc and I suspect that the bolts are a wotsit to remove.
I did remove the nuts which hold the inner end of the shaft to the disc. They were easy enough.
I have also attempted to measure the cup diameter and the overall length. So I will check that against the spec of the 2 parts that have been mentioned.
The factors were expressing concern over accurate measurement of the UJ stating that some are very close in dimension to others so if yoiu get it just a bit wrong you could be stuffed. But, I guess, they're not that expensive so if I order them tomorrow I will have them for the weekend (rain or not!!)
Any of you guys actually taken the half shaft off before? Is it fairly straight forward?
A.
adam quantrill said:
Always worth checking in the parts list at the top that's where I found this....
Sorry Adam. You're right.I normally do, which is why I commented some time back that we should add info to it and also mention good suppliers etc.
In this case I've been in such a flap because I've got Le Mans next week that I forgot!!!
Adi
adam quantrill said:
Like I said ;^) nipples pointing inwards every time.
That's what I tell the wife!!Funnily enough I have been searching the interweb looking for UJ sizes to see if I could determine which of the 2 sizes I had fitted to the car.
I found a very useful GKN document which had a table showing UJ's by size. My sizes seemed to come up with 2 possibles. 7260 or 131N. Although they give all sorts of make of UJ in the table the lack of another name seems to suggest that these are GKN codes. But I could be wrong!
I'm trying to find something that tells me the sizes of the codes you listed.
Adi
adam quantrill said:
Almost certainly the bigger ones then - smaller ones were in earlier trailing-arm 350i's up to around 1988 and I uprated my first one to bigger ones back in the day. Bearing cap diameter is probably the best confirmation.
A £2 coin is 28.4 mm diameter so it should fit into the hole for the big one, but not into the cap hole (yoke hole) for the small one.
I measured the inside where the circlip is and reckon it measured about 26.5-27mm. I also measured the overall and got approx 82mm. That relates to the smaller ones.A £2 coin is 28.4 mm diameter so it should fit into the hole for the big one, but not into the cap hole (yoke hole) for the small one.
Edited by adam quantrill on Wednesday 4th June 22:43
Also read some comment about the possibility of the heavy duty ones perhaps not fitting. But I assume that has since been tried and is OK..
A.
TVRleigh_BBWR said:
The Prop-shaft Takes the smaller ones, so compare with that.
Also you want to measure from the cup not inside the circlip.
Also remove the grease nipples, when taking them in and out, as this will make it easier.
I've just put The up-rated ones in and some went in ok, others I needed to file a tiny tiny bit of the inner cups for them to fit, just do a quick test of them all once they are all out with one of the new UJ's 1st.
For peace of mind, I'd take the whole shaft out, and change them both. (leave the hub nut on, i.e. leave the shaft connected to the hub, and remove 3 bolts, leave shock connected to spring (no need to compress))
Depending on how easy the bolts come out your looking at 1-3 days.
Thanks I can check.Also you want to measure from the cup not inside the circlip.
Also remove the grease nipples, when taking them in and out, as this will make it easier.
I've just put The up-rated ones in and some went in ok, others I needed to file a tiny tiny bit of the inner cups for them to fit, just do a quick test of them all once they are all out with one of the new UJ's 1st.
For peace of mind, I'd take the whole shaft out, and change them both. (leave the hub nut on, i.e. leave the shaft connected to the hub, and remove 3 bolts, leave shock connected to spring (no need to compress))
Depending on how easy the bolts come out your looking at 1-3 days.
Edited by TVRleigh_BBWR on Thursday 5th June 00:37
Unfortunately, for the same reason I can't get the grease gun onto the grease nipple I am also having trouble getting them out. I will have another go.
I plan to take the whole shaft out and will probably do both UJ's although I might limit it to the outer one before my trip and the inner one after just in case I encounter problems!
Do you mean 1-3 days including getting hold of parts?
Adi
I did make the pre-emptive strike and WD40 the bolts and also the circlips on the UJ.
The nuts on the inner end came off fairly easily.
Fingers crossed! Wish me luck!!
I had intended to start this evening but didn't get back from work 'til after 8. It's not on really!
UJ's have been ordered. They're not Hardy Spicer but have been cross referenced to HS163. They have grease nipples too.
It's going to be a busy weekend.
Adi
The nuts on the inner end came off fairly easily.
Fingers crossed! Wish me luck!!
I had intended to start this evening but didn't get back from work 'til after 8. It's not on really!
UJ's have been ordered. They're not Hardy Spicer but have been cross referenced to HS163. They have grease nipples too.
It's going to be a busy weekend.
Adi
Job done!
What a job though! My first problem was that the bolt which runs through the bottom of the shock didn't want to budge. Also the short bolt which holds a tie rod to the hub carrier was proving difficult because it's impossible to get a ring spanner on it, let alone a socket.
In the end I ground off the nut on the end of the short bolt and the bolt pushed out quite easily. I then attempted to undo the hub nut. Once I had got hold of a 3/4" drive 38mm socket and chunky bar plus a scaffold pole as an extension that undid OK.
Next job was to undo the inner flange of the drive shaft from the disc, fold down the hub carrier by pivoting it on the lower hub carrier bolts. I was then able me to pull the drive shaft out of the hub carrier and away from the car.
Surprisingly the circlips were a lot more straight forward to remove than I had expected. But the cups didn't want to move so I ground the cruciform out and then hammered each cup out invidually with a socket whilst making sure that the yoke was fully supported so that it didn't crack.
Assembly was relatively straight forward although I was surprised at how tight some of those cups were.
But haven taken the car for a test drive all seems fine. The only thing I have to do before the off is to get the rear hub nut torque checked.
Does anyone know what the thread is for the hub nut. I saw a forum thread which showed that someone had used a castellated nut to hold the hub on and that seemed like a very good idea.
A.
What a job though! My first problem was that the bolt which runs through the bottom of the shock didn't want to budge. Also the short bolt which holds a tie rod to the hub carrier was proving difficult because it's impossible to get a ring spanner on it, let alone a socket.
In the end I ground off the nut on the end of the short bolt and the bolt pushed out quite easily. I then attempted to undo the hub nut. Once I had got hold of a 3/4" drive 38mm socket and chunky bar plus a scaffold pole as an extension that undid OK.
Next job was to undo the inner flange of the drive shaft from the disc, fold down the hub carrier by pivoting it on the lower hub carrier bolts. I was then able me to pull the drive shaft out of the hub carrier and away from the car.
Surprisingly the circlips were a lot more straight forward to remove than I had expected. But the cups didn't want to move so I ground the cruciform out and then hammered each cup out invidually with a socket whilst making sure that the yoke was fully supported so that it didn't crack.
Assembly was relatively straight forward although I was surprised at how tight some of those cups were.
But haven taken the car for a test drive all seems fine. The only thing I have to do before the off is to get the rear hub nut torque checked.
Does anyone know what the thread is for the hub nut. I saw a forum thread which showed that someone had used a castellated nut to hold the hub on and that seemed like a very good idea.
A.
TBH I struggled with the circlips and still need to revisit one of them to check that it has seated properly. I'm not sure if someone had previously deformed the yoke fractionally so that the when the caps are pressed into place they are tight on the cruciform almost before they have fully passed the circlip groove.
It seems OK but I don't want to chance it so having done a few miles I shall check everything over again.
A.
It seems OK but I don't want to chance it so having done a few miles I shall check everything over again.
A.
Hansoplast said:
Hello
Too late for those who have doen the job, but here some tricksl that helped me.
Getring the UJ's out without grinding the yoke with the chance to damage the fork, just tap on the yoke with a woorden or brase hammer while holding joint in the other hand.
It takes Some time but the cup will come out slowly without any force.
When remplaçant a new cup put Some copper grease on the cup so it will come out later easier. You better use copper grease on all bolts like those of the damper to prevent water to get in and rust.
Put extra Grease inside the cup with the needles so they won't fall out.
NEVER put too much grease through the nipple when installed because it can damage the rubber seal that holds the grease in.
Try to find a UJ with the grease nipple "out of line" (do you understand?) than it is easier to get the grease gun on the nipple when all is in situe.
Hopes it helps a little to get live easier when working on your car.
Hans
Thanks Hans.Too late for those who have doen the job, but here some tricksl that helped me.
Getring the UJ's out without grinding the yoke with the chance to damage the fork, just tap on the yoke with a woorden or brase hammer while holding joint in the other hand.
It takes Some time but the cup will come out slowly without any force.
When remplaçant a new cup put Some copper grease on the cup so it will come out later easier. You better use copper grease on all bolts like those of the damper to prevent water to get in and rust.
Put extra Grease inside the cup with the needles so they won't fall out.
NEVER put too much grease through the nipple when installed because it can damage the rubber seal that holds the grease in.
Try to find a UJ with the grease nipple "out of line" (do you understand?) than it is easier to get the grease gun on the nipple when all is in situe.
Hopes it helps a little to get live easier when working on your car.
Hans
I think I pretty much covered what you suggested. The grease nipple is offset but unlike the previous installer I have fitted it inboard so that I can get the grease gun onto it!!
I reckon that using a grinder with a thin disc on it to cut teh cruciform out is a pretty good method because then it is easy to put each fork of the yoke onto the top of the vise with the vice open enough to tap the cups out between the vice jaws. The only proviso here is that you really need someone to hold the yoke or drive shaft in position whilst you knock the cups out. But it works very well and I shall use it again when I replace the other 3 universal joints. I've only replaced one at the moment to enable be to get to Le Mans at the end of this week. I didn't want to tempt fate and try to replace any others. In fact I will probably leave that job until after the Le Mans Classic. That way I know I don't have any pressing engagements with the car until the Wilton Classic Supercar.
Overall I'm pretty pleased with the way it went though. I was even able to quickly drop the drive shaft out this afternoon to double check the seating of the circlips. It all came apart and went back together very straight forwardly.
Cheers
Adi
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