U-Joint Replacement 65 corvette - NCRS Discussion Boards

U-Joint Replacement 65 corvette

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  • Bob Mortenson

    U-Joint Replacement 65 corvette

    New member seeks information to install new u-joints in drive shaft & half shafts on 65 corvette. Proper repair sequence, jacking, jack stand placement, any tricks or cautions? I would rather know the right way than learn the hard way. Thanks!
  • Gary S.
    Extremely Frequent Poster
    • July 31, 1992
    • 1628

    #2
    Re: U-Joint Replacement 65 corvette

    This is a pretty straight forward job, but it is a knuckle-buster. I jacked my car up and put 4 good jack stands at the four corners of the frame. The order of removal isn't that critical, but I did my half-shafts first. In addition, take the car out of gear and release the parking brake. You will need to turn the tires to get at all four of the nuts on each half shaft u-joint. The driveshaft is the most difficult because the rear u-joint work space is pretty tight. I could only do one flat on the nut, turn the wrench over, and then do another flat. This takes forever. Perhaps someone on the board has a better technique. You have two choices on u-joints, with or without the grease fittings. Since I have a driver and not a show car, I chose to go with the non-correct joint with grease fittings. The first time I did this on my car, the original(?) u-joints were pretty much frozen into the holder. I had to take the shafts to a machine shop to press out the old u-joints. The one mistake I made when I put the new ones in was that I didn't insure that the nuts were tight. Because of the tight working spaces for the u-joint keepers, it is very difficult to torque these nuts down. One of the nuts worked loose on a half shaft and the u-joint keeper came loose. That end of the half shaft, still connected at the axle, flopped around like a fish on the line and punched a very nice hole in my jack storage compartment. Once the fiberglass repairs were done, I decided that this wouln't happen again. First I cleaned the keepers and nuts with lacquer thinner, then I put them into the dishwasher and got them nice and clean. Then I used LokTite on them to insure that they wouldn't work loose. So far so good. Gary 21316 66 327/350

    Comment

    • Joe L.
      Beyond Control Poster
      • February 1, 1988
      • 43193

      #3
      Re: U-Joint Replacement 65 corvette

      Bob-----

      I recommend that you take the drive shaft and the half shafts to a driveline service shop and have them install the new u-joints. If it were just the drive shaft u-joints, you could probably handle those yourself. However, the half shaft u-joints can be very difficult. You also stand the risk of bending or distorting the spindle-end flange if you don't have a fixture to support it while the u-joints are being removed and installed. All-in-all, this is a job for someone with experience and the cost is usually not too great to have a shop do it (as long as YOU take the shafts out of the car first).

      I only recommend the use of Spicer u-joints. The GM-supplied joints are and always were of Spicer manufacture.
      In Appreciation of John Hinckley

      Comment

      • Wayne W.
        Extremely Frequent Poster
        • April 30, 1982
        • 3605

        #4
        Re: U-Joint Replacement 65 corvette

        Again you do not have to have special tools for the job. As mentioned the outbord flange will collapse if treated roughly but the tool is staring you in the face. Just remove the large castle nut on the end of the axle and slip the yoke off. Bolt it to the flange and you have the support necessary to keep this from hapening.

        Comment

        • Bob Mortenson

          #5
          Re: U-Joint Replacement 65 corvette

          Thanks to all that responded. I could not believe how fast I got a response.My car is a 40,000 mile original conv.327/350 pwg pb tt windows teak wheel 2 top nassau blue. Just started collecting Corvettes again but my wife would not let me buy any untill I bought a automatic she could drive. I have not joined the local club yet but used to belong to suburban Corvettes of MN years ago with my 66 427 roadster (silver, side pipes, stolen 1972.) collecting cars is really pretty addictive and my new shop is almost full and we are still putting the siding on.

          Thanks Bob Mortenson BobM@FCStone.com

          Comment

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