[alfa] U-Joints

["Ed & Marsha Prytherch" <mred2u@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am looking for advice on driveshaft U-joints for a S2 Spider.

I changed out my driveshaft 2 weeks ago because of vibrations. I thought
that I had worn spines, but it turned out to be just a bad U-joint, so I
decided to rebuild the old driveshaft. I started replacing the old U-joints.
I pressed out the old center U-joint - no problem. I cleaned up the yokes
and started to install the new U-joint. I pressed the 4 bearings in flush
with the yokes, then started to press them in enough to get the retaining
clips in. I got one side in but had trouble getting the opposite bearing in
far enough to get the clip into the groove. So I switched to the other pair.
Same problem. I started to press a bearing in with more force and broke the
bearing cage at the opposite end.

I removed the new U-joint, with the broken cage and compared it with the old
one. The cross pieces are different. The old one has square shoulders at the
inner end of the bearing surfaces, but the new one has tapered shoulders.
The old one measures 2.230" across the ends of the cross, the new one
measures 2.285". The old one is marked with "BS" inside a diamond. The new
one is marked "iC-UG" and "F_4".

Can anyone shed any light on this? It looks like I have bought U-joints that
are not exact replacements for the originals.

I normally by parts like this from Highwood Alfa, but this time I went with
a domestic vendor because I was concerned about possible delays in the mail
from the UK as we approach Christmas.

Thanks,
Ed Prytherch, Columbia SC
79 Spider
73 GTV
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided