Trying to vision what or how those old u-joints came apart. Never worked on one of that type. Sound like a pita. You couldn't just pound them apart or press apart ?
I will put some pictures below, Bill. Stew had a good write up there on his experience!
I think the only thing left in HO that I have is a brass steam engine a deceased friends wife gave me. The old gent never seen it run as the back trucks came apart and he could not get them back together again. I built most of his layout for him. Then after he passed his wife wanted me to take it down and wrap all the cars, engines, etc. and box them up for his sone to have. That is when she gave be that brass engine. 4-8-8-2 with 10 wheel tender. Take big curves to run one like that. I'l see if I happen to have an photos of the hopper cars I did.
4-8-8-2 is big no matter what scale, Roger! Darn near the same as the "Big Boy"! That massive locomotive is 4-8-8-4! I think Big Boy is the biggest steam engine locomotive ever built? Please correct me if I'm wrong. Sounds like a very cool HO engine!
Me too Chris! I made decals for a few years, but not tiny like that!
I've also never dealt with that type of "plastic retainer" u-joint. Seems like triple the work to replace! And you poked my memory... what happened to Gtractor? Hope he's still with us!
I started learning some of this tiny vinyl cutting back in the mid-1990's, doing custom diecast and slot cars. Had plenty of struggles figuring out what might or probably wont cut at .15 to .3 inch tall. Then I had to learn a new vinyl cutter 3 years ago, but I think it does a better job than my old one after working with it for awhile.
Yeah Kris hasn't been around this forum for a long time now too. I think he is friends with Lowell. Perhaps he knows what has happened to him.
The U joint caps are held in with a form of Loctite that is injected at the factory - the stuff they use holds them tight and you might bend or distort the yoke ears if you tried to remove the joint without melting the plastic first. Much quicker and more reliable than installing conventional C clips that are used on the aftermarket U joints when the vehicles were being mass produced at the factory. Driveshaft can be spun during manufacture to make sure joint is perfectly centered in yoke and adjusted while product is curing if the joint is off just a smidge to reduce vibration during warranty period.
A word of caution if you are ever trying to remove the Loctite product by heating it with a torch. The method does work and I have seen many done that way but I have also experienced first hand where the U joint cap can fly off while heating. I was installing new U joints as preventative maintenance on an 89 Caprice that still had the original front joint at 312000 km's and the joint was still working ok but I like joints that you can grease. Was heating the caps with a torch and the plastic had just started to ooze out when one of the caps flew off and hit me right square in the chest - was only wearing a T shirt as it was a hot summers evening. Left a nice red burn circle where it caught me and the area was quite tender for several days. I figure that the grease that was left inside the joint created enough pressure to pop the cap. If you are heating up that style of U joint cap wear eye protection and some sort of protective equipment in case something similar occurs would be my suggestion to anyone tackling one.
Wow, Stew! Sounds like that would be like getting hit with a slug in a 12ga shotgun! Glad you weren't seriously hurt! I wore my welding helmet with it in "grind" mode while heating the yokes, and sat in front of the joints rather than beside them. The grease seals did blow up on a few of them almost making me go change shorts but it didn't quite have to---LOL! There were only 2 caps out of the four u-joints I replaced that had no grease in them.
The front driveshaft is done now too. I have to put the truck in neutral and jack a tire to grease the two differential joints yet but will do that tomorrow, both at the same time.
Here's some pics for the guys that never dealt with these dang things before. This was my first time too!
Those little white things are where the plastic was injected or vented.
The plastic retainer is oozing out.
This came out of one joint, two caps worth.
While still hot i blew air through the holes. Lots more would come out.
Then they would press out like a "normal" U-joint.
Those grooves in the caps and yoke were filled with that plastic before heating and blowing them out.
Another joint done.
And back in the truck with the front shaft.
I pulled the drain plug and oil filter to change that while on the lift too. Will finish that and do a lube on everything tomorrow.
I sure appreciate the comments and thoughts on these posts, guys!
DAC
