Snapped a u-joint last night

[T-Bone028]

So last night, I went to the local 1/8th mile drag strip for fun. First run of the night, snapped the right rear u-joint next to the diff. I guess I should have been more cautious, I was hearing some muted "thunking" noises ever ytime I would shift gears when normally driving. I thought it was just a bad differential mount, but I suppose it was a loose or damaged u-joint.

 

I'm picking up a neapco u-joint from carquest this afternoon, other than upgrading to CV's, are there any U-joints that are a little more beefy? I think I read somewhere that the Nissan u-joints have seemed to be the best, but I didnt see them on courtesy nissans website. What has been other members experiences with broken u-joints? Common with Z's or not really? I saw that Neapco makes a Premium "brute-force" u-joint that is supposed to be stronger than their standard. Anyone have some opinions?

[GodZilla]

What about MSA's "Heavy Duty U-Joints"?

[jgkurz]

I'm a Spicer fan but Neapco should be just fine, especially the Brute Force model. You will gain some strength by going to a solid non-greasable joint. Any competent local drive axle should be able to identify the correct u-joint vs. mail order from MSA. Are you running a customer driveshaft or the original? I ask because your OEM driveshaft may not be have replaceable u-joints. I might be mistaken but that's what I vaguely remember.

 

-John

Edited May 26, 2010 by jgkurz

[T-Bone028]

Well, purchased the Neapco brute force u-joint for the half shaft yesterday, took it into the shop to have them press out the old one and put in the new one (I dont have a vice to hammer them out), and then reinstalled it back into my Z. Went for a test drive and felt some weird vibration and heard clunking...decided to just take it around my block at a slow speed. I thought maybe I didnt properly tighten down the flanges on the halfshaft I had just reinstalled. As I was driving at about 10 mph, I ended up having my front driveshaft u-joint snap about a 1/4 mile away from home. I assume it was already cracked/damaged from the earlier mishap. Totally sucks. I have now ordered all new replacement u-joints for both half-shafts and my driveshaft from Advance auto parts. Hopefully after all 6 of the u-joints are replaced, I will be able to drive her again without worry. Part numbers for anyone interested:

 

Driveshaft (2 needed):

 

Neapco Part No 1-0027

 

Halfshafts (4 needed):

 

Neapco Part No 1-0029BF

 

Total about $70.00

[Tyler]

Thanks for the parts numbers.

[T-Bone028]

Finally was able to get my old u-joints pressed out, and new one's put in. Unfortunately, one of the yolks on the driveshaft got out of round when the u-joint snapped...the replacement u-joint fit, but there are some slight binding issues on one axis. Hopefully it wont have too much vibration on the highway or catastrophic failure wont occur and catapult my car into the air.

 

I reinstalled the driveshaft and 2 half-shafts last night, and so far, no clunking or odd vibration. However, I havent taken it out anywhere other than my neighborhood, and it hasnt gone above 20 mph. Hope someone can learn something from my bonehead move...if one u-joint snaps, inspect or replace all of them.