Hardy Spicer assembly gone wrong?

[Coalhod]

Hello; Replaced both universal joints over the winter, one side went together perfectly however with the other side I had difficulty getting the cross to center with the end caps. When assembled it had a slight resistance to it and I know it is supposed to move freely. Only thing I know to do at this point is to be aware of drivetrain vibration and or clunking and if need be replace with www.minispares.com/product/classic/27H7880.aspx.

Maybe it will "bed in" or perhaps that is wishful thinking.


Andrew

[Dearg1275]

Andrew, if you know it should move freely then don’t accept a result with resistance. If it ain’t right it ain’t right. Take it to bits and start again. Examine everything for damage and check you have the full complement of needles in each bearing.

You don’t want to be driving around anxious that something may not be right and constantly listening out for trouble.

D

[Coalhod]

FWIW inspected how the assembly rotated while on the car and the good side cross rotated in the needle caps while the other side did not. Put the bad assembly on the bench and did not find anything amiss with the u joint. Found a Spicer equivalent part number 5101X same result on installation. Off to MiniSpares I go.

[agricola]

I have had this happen on numerous UJs of various sizes on little to big ptos, and this often works.
The trick I have found is to spring the tight yoke, wider. When you assemble them particularly in a vice the yoke can be ever so slightly nipped in. So see which of the yokes is tight. Then place the assembly in a vice so you can strike the drive shaft just away from the yoke. This will slightly spring the yoke wider and free it off. Do this both ways if it doesnt then you have a problem.

[Coalhod]

Thanks for the tip! Yes I did put it in a vice and used the hammer method. I thought something may have been off i.e. it seemed as though the axis needed line bored so it makes sense that I inadvertenly closed the yoke gap.

[bwaminispeed]

The last step in doing U Joints has always been to give it a healthy crack with a big hammer, it sets all the bits into their normal positions......

Try not to hit any sharp edges that may peen over......I have a lead hammer I use for this......

Sounds crude, but, it does work.....