Ball & Trunion U-Joint Issues

[36splodge]

Good job. I thought about trying vinyl too but it would be really soft when hot and stiff in the cold so I gave it up. Good thinking on changing end for end on the drive shaft. I've come a long way trying to get everything sorted out and back together but thanks for the reminder that I'll still have a lot things to look forward to figuring out when I finally get the 36 on the road this spring.

[delaware39]

Sorry to be slow. I've haven't had much free time. The universal joints are done. The homemade vinyl boots were a bad idea. Too much vibration. Since I needed new pins, rubber boot were the way to go. Bernbaum was able to find some NOS pins. They were pressed in and new bearings installed with fresh grease. When it went back on the car (again) it had  horrible noise and vibration. Out again but nothing looked wrong.  Since I kept the old housings, I thought that maybe they were the problem. I bought one on eBay, but it was too big. I wonder what it fits. To end this story, I decided that, since the car spends most of its life going forward, maybe one side of the bearing race in the housing was worn and the other side would be OK. So I installed the driveshaft backwards. It worked. I also replaced the rear motor mounts. They were literally falling apart and didn't have the metal spacer. With the new u-joints and motor mounts, everything is smooth and quiet for a while. One problem solved, about 100 to go.

[36splodge]

Wondering where you're at on this. My 36 had a lot of wear on the pins probably due to missing rollers and in the housings at the closed end. I searched the cost of kits and didn't have $600 to spend on the drive shaft. I spend a lot of time searching craigslist and ebay for bargains and finally found a shaft that was complete and was good to go for under $100 including shipping.
I noticed a couple inches difference in the length of the shafts and thought at worst I could transfer the good parts from one to the other. After getting a Hollanders Interchange book I discovered the shaft that came with my coupe was a replacement out of a 37 DeSoto and probably much of the reason for the wear in the housings. I believe the shaft I got in the mail is the correct one for my car. Lucky me!

[delaware39]

I'll keep you posted. I won't be able to do anything for a few days. Work. Kinda ruins the whole antique car thing.

[mattimuss]

Here in the "Land of Fruits & Nuts" it cost me $400 for the last one, the one that is currently in my '41 P12.

Good luck if you decide to go this route.  I have been very happy with the conversion, in all of my vehicles, to date.

Let us know if you find a place, and how it goes for you.

[TodFitch]

The machinist who pressed out the pin said it is too badly out of round to reuse. He's looking into some proper stock from which to make new ones. If I might ask, what was the cost of making a new, cross type universal and driveshaft?

I had it done in 1978. Pre-Internet so it was harder to find parts to fix the original. Used it for about 25 years before having a vibration issue at which time I rebuilt the original and put that back on the car.

So it has been so long I don't recall the price. My guess is the current pricing is likely to be in the $300 to $500 range but that is really just a wild guess. There is someone advertising modern type driveshafts in the Plymouth Bulletin, you might want to check that out but I'd check first with a local drive line shop. If nothing else keeping local automotive craftsmen in business is a good thing even if it costs a dollar or two more.

[delaware39]

The machinist who pressed out the pin said it is too badly out of round to reuse. He's looking into some proper stock from which to make new ones. If I might ask, what was the cost of making a new, cross type universal and driveshaft?

[TodFitch]

Sounds like an oversized pin was fitted to your driveshaft. I guess you could get a machinist to make up a new one for you.

My limited experience (single car) is that it is the ball, the rollers and the housing that wear more than the pins. If my impression is correct, then you may be able to reuse your old pin. What is the condition of the area the rollers contact?

As mattimuss points out, you can get a modern driveshaft made up. I've gone both ways on my car and am currently using my original driveshaft with rebuilt ball & trunnion joints. The custom made driveshaft with modern U-Joints is on the shelf after it developed vibration issues. So there is no perfect solution and what works for me may not be best for you.

[mattimuss]

Mornin' "D",

I have found that converting the drive shaft from trunion to universal joints solves A LOT of frustrations.  I have had this done on several of my classics and have not regretted it once.  I am fortunate to have a local drive shaft shop that cuts the ends, modifies and balances the drive shaft.

I would advise you to see if there is a driveline/driveshaft shop close to you and see if they can do the upgrade to universal joints.  If you don't have one, message me and I'll give you the contact info for the one out here.

[delaware39]

I was getting noise and vibrations from my front universal joint. I bought a rebuilt kit from Bernbaum and after having the old pin pressed out, it turns out that the new pin is about 4 thousandths smaller and just slide right through the ball on the driveshaft. My machinist and I are brainstorming what to do. I called Bernbaum and their person measured a bunch of pins. They were all the same (0.5600) - too small for my driveshaft. According to my parts book (covers 36-42) all Plymouths in that time frame used the same pin.
Is it possible that  (because of damage to the driveshaft?) someone in the past reamed out the ball and used an oversized pin? Other parts can often be found over or under sized, but I am unaware of this for trunion pins. Any thoughts?
By the way, the current pin specs at 0.5643" where is goes into the ball, several thousandths smaller at the ends from bearing wear. Maybe someone can mic a pin and let me know how it compares.