rickneworleansla

I recently started hearing a clicking and squeaking noise from my drivers side rear wheel well only with the throttle. It's quieter at highway cruise but gets progressively louder on acceleration from a stop. It's also louder when making a turn. It's pretty loud now. I'm thinking it may be the U joints not just the washer. I think I'm going to try and get this done this weekend if I can get all the parts. Does anyone have a parts list for U joints, washers, pins, brackets, grease etc. for my 95? I was told the original greasable U joints are the way to go. Can I get everything local or shipped to Louisiana by Friday? Heres some from Mid America? Here's Ecklers page? Are either of these good? I was thinking about picking up this U joint press tool from the local Harbor Freight?

Thanks

I found some good write ups on replacement here. I will probably follow Scorps method. Do I need torque specs on anything? It looks like everything is put back on using markings. Any other tips or tricks before I begin?

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1479558

http://personal.tmlp.com/scorp/vette/images/ujoints/

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2005...nt/u-joint.asp

http://www.corvettefever.com/techart...air/index.html

bczee

You might also try and find a local shop that does Driveline repairs or a parts store that might have what you are looking for and either has them in stock or can get them the next day.

There are also aftermarket U-Joint that are stronger than the OEM ones.

CFI-EFI

You don't need to disassemble to the nylon washer to replace the u joints. You CAN if you suspect the old one is destroyed. The better u joints are the Spicer, non-greaseable joints. If you buy them from a drive line shop, they will install them into your, carry in, half shafts for little or no charge. There really is no need to mark anything. If you remove the outer camber rod bolt, you won't disturb the camber adjustment. The u joints are the only parts you should need, unless you plan to do other work while you are in there.

RACE ON!!!

racebum

CFI said most of what i was thinking. The non greeseable spicers are very strong, even the greesable isn't bad. Anything Spicer would be my choice. The joints really should be pressed in with a vice at the very least, just using a driveline shop would probably be your best bet. Tapping in the U joints is a bad idea since it's very easy to misalign a cap and the needle bearings will feel stiff and melt down fairly quickly. To change these guys i always have just pulled the sway bar end link, both dog bones and dropped it out. Pulling the lower arm or upper rod would make it easier if you run into any trouble. make sure you have both rear wheels up since you will need to spin the rear end to get at different bolts. A 3/8" impact with a long extension that necks down to 1/4" extension and a 7 or 8mm socket works great. i can't remember what size those little bolts are, 7s or 8s ? also inspect your bushings, when my car was eating U joints all the time it was because of flex in the bushings and a cracked rear spring. I replaced the spring with a VBP and installed energy suspension bushings. no wheel hop and no more broken u joints.

CFI-EFI

Interesting. When I pulled mine, I removed the long bolt that goes through the end of the spring, the outer camber rod bolt (at the knuckle) and the tie rod end, at the knuckle. I left the sway bar link and the dog bones alone. I guess that just proves that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

RACE ON!!!

racebum

The spring is a good idea if it places tension on the suspension. When i have my car up in the air the bolt just kind of dangles there. if you have a stock spring with a lota arch and factory short bolts i would also pull that as CFI has said. The last thing you want is tension when you do this. Also, damn skippy there is more than one way to skin a cat Another trick is to use a jack under the knuckle when you go to put it back togeather. That way you can get the knuckle at just the right spot to re-incert the bolts.

rickneworleansla

Thanks for the info so far. My 95 daily driver just hit 100k and this will be my first U joint replacment. Any idea where I can get the Spicer joints shipped here by Friday. It's hard to find places open on the weekend. This will probably be this Satuday or Sundays project if everything comes together correctly. It looks easy enough to get it all done in a day. I will also search around for a local shop to buy the u joints from. If I find some place in the area I can pick them up after work one day. I'm calling the dealership now for the washer. I think I would just feel better about it if I replaced it also. I hear these go bad frequently. Should'nt the dealership sell the Spicer joints? I'll call and get a price. I found a website that sells Spicer 1350 series U joints with no grease fitting for my year. Is that the corrct one?

bczee

If I remember right, most Dana/Spicer U-Joints are of the 1330 or 1350 series which are the HD for cars.. anywhere from $15- to $40 for one, depending on where you find them.

I think you can order them direct from many places. maybe you should try Dennys Drive Shaft and they can overnight or next day them to you for the shipping..

If someone can provide the correct part number for the 1330/1350 u-joint.. you can also get them on ebay ! I found some reference to 5-799x / 1350 as the correct one.. but need to verify that number..

Other option are other aftermarket like Lakewood, you can get them from Summitracing or jeg's quickly.

what year is your vette ?

bczee

I just called the local driveline shop here and he did say that the 5-799x or 5-590 would be the correct ones for a 95 Vette..but make sure yourself... this may help you in hunting down your joint in time for the party !

good hunting..

CFI-EFI

All C4s take the same u joints. They are 1310 series, part number 5-786X, for the drive shaft (2 ea.). And 1350 series, 5-800X, for the half shafts (4 per car). There has been some superseding that has taken place, but those are/were the part numbers for the non-greaseable anti-galvanic (coated caps) u joints recommended for the aluminum shafts.

If you will look in your yellow pages under truck parts or whatever your local book uses, look for the Dana or Spicer logo. They should be the local warehouse distributor for the u joints you need. Also look for companies that do drive line or drive shaft repair.

RACE ON!!!

rickneworleansla

I called several places. I had no luck with Jegs, Summit, or any of the typical local parts shops. I just orderd them from a local driveline shop. They should be in for pickup tomorrow. I believe he said they were shipping them from Jackson, Mississippi. They were $26 each and $6 shipping. They said the 5-799x series is the same as the 5-800x series but without the anti-corrosive coating. They told me they could order the 5-800x but that I would never see a difference between the two and it would take longer to ship. I found this post that confirms what he was saying about the part numbers and coating. Do you think I need to replace the pins and brackets or just clean them up? I'm going to leave the washer and bearings as the next step if this does not fix it. I'm guessing that it's not going to hurt anythying doing only the drivers half shaft and not the passanger, correct?

Thanks again for the help.

jhammons01

Driveshaftsuperstore.com

Rockforddriveline.com

CFI-EFI

Not until you try to change them next time.


What are you talking about, now? Pins? Brackets?


It won't hurt anything but a couple of years from now, you could forget which side you changed and change them again when they don't need it.

RACE ON!!!

rickneworleansla

Sorry, I guess they are called strap bolts.



One of articles mentioned replacing the cotter pins from the leaf spring bolt and tie rod nut.



I'm sure I can just reuse what's there. Stupid questions, just trying to avoid wasting an hour or more running to a parts store on Saturday. The closest one to where I work on the car is about 20+ minutes away. I like to make sure I have absolutely everything I need. I wasted over an hour last Saturday pulling the carbs out of one of my jet ski's. I'm rebuilding them before the Spring season. The carb bolts were a PITA to get to and I didn't have a 10mm ratchet wrench I needed. I had to run to Lowes and barely made it back before sunset.

CFI-EFI

Unless they are damaged in some way there is no need to replace the straps. The same with the strap bolts. Both are almost always reusable.

You can probably save and reuse that cotter pin, too. It isn't in a very highly stressed application.

If you remove the bolt from the OUTER end of the camber rod, as I have modified your pic to point out, you will save having to mark the camber adjustment and hope for no change in the adjustment, on reassembly.



RACE ON!!!

rickneworleansla

Thanks. That should save me an additional headache. The pictures are from scorps writeup on his website. It seems to be the easiest to follow. I'll add the change to my printout.

rickneworleansla

I finished everything up on Saturday. It took about four hours with cleanup and taking my time with everything. Two caps on the old outer U joint appeared to be cracked. You really could not see it until the half shaft was out. After getting the U joints out, I also noticed there were a couple of rough metal edges sticking up inside the holes on the yoke. It was probably caused by the bad U joint caps. I used a grinder to gently smooth them out. Two days of driving now and no more click or squeak and everything still seems to be aligned correctly. Thanks to everyone for the assistance.

megtom2

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but since I never see a jack under the spring I take it once you have undone the bolt you can slowly lower the jack and move it out of the way? Planning on doing this in a day or two and trying to understand every step so it goes as easy as possible. Started popping a couple of days ago.
Thanks

PLRX

Cibtl

megtom2

Let the tension out slowly and get the jack out of the way or not? Getting ready to get at it.