Replacement of UJ's

[ham204]

I need to replace the UJ's soon as I hear a clonk when I engage the clutch.

Apart from carefully marking the position of the prop, anything else I need to check and have a look at while I'm doing this?

[mahony]

I need to replace the UJ's soon as I hear a clonk when I engage the clutch.

Apart from carefully marking the position of the prop, anything else I need to check and have a look at while I'm doing this?

Are you sure it's not the middle bearing as it's usually the rubber donut that perishes around the bearing which gives quite a bit of play and can cause a clonk on take up of the clutch , these normally go before any UJ

[soe8m]

these normally go before any UJ

Are you sure?

Jeroen.

[mahony]

these normally go before any UJ

Are you sure?

Jeroen.

In my experience yes, in 32yrs of sprint ownership i have only ever had the centre bearing go and never a UJ on a propshaft ( i currently have a sprint prop with a shot centre bearing that needs renewing ).

[Carledo]

A clonk on taking up the drive could also be backlash in the axle. You really need to get underneath for a proper inspection. If the UJs are worn, especially the rear one, you'll have a nasty driveline vibration.

Steve

[ham204]

A clonk on taking up the drive could also be backlash in the axle. You really need to get underneath for a proper inspection. If the UJs are worn, especially the rear one, you'll have a nasty driveline vibration.

Steve

It drives well after the initial 'clonk' and no vibration that I can note.

Anyone has a pic of the centre bearing and its location? Apologies for this question but still trying to find my way around the car -my experience is more on the Series Land Rovers and spitfires and never heard of a 'centre bearing' in the prop.

[soe8m]

I'm getting nervous when I don't have any UJ's in stock anymore. Always have a few and need to replace once a year.

Jeroen

[Mahesh]

I wonder if you have a similar problem to mine, which Steve (Carledo) found,
the centre bearing bracket bolt was not tightened up.

The bearing rubber is still split, but the initial clonk has gone.

[MIG Wielder]

A clonk on taking up the drive could also be backlash in the axle. You really need to get underneath for a proper inspection. If the UJs are worn, especially the rear one, you'll have a nasty driveline vibration.

Steve

Anyone has a pic of the centre bearing and its location? Apologies for this question but still trying to find my way around the car -my experience is more on the Series Land Rovers and spitfires and never heard of a 'centre bearing' in the prop.

This piccy is of 2 Sprint props; The centre bearing is the bit suppoted by the cardboard box. The gearbox end of the prop; is on the left.
Tony.

[ham204]

looking at the picture above, I suppose it's best to just remove the prop with centre piece complete and work comfortably on a bench

[Carledo]

I'm getting nervous when I don't have any UJ's in stock anymore. Always have a few and need to replace once a year.

Jeroen

This I can't understand! The reasons for premature failure of a prop UJ (I regard 12 months, even with brutal and high mileage use as premature) are incompetent fitting and poor quality parts - and I would be the last person to accuse someone as experienced as Jeroen of either crime. The only UJs I replace on a frequent/regular basis are Herald/Spitfire/GT6 Driveshaft UJs - and they are a special case, being loaded well beyond anything messrs Hardy and Spicer intended!

Steve

[Carledo]

looking at the picture above, I suppose it's best to just remove the prop with centre piece complete and work comfortably on a bench

I'ts easier to check things out with the prop on the car, you can SEE the important rubber bit of the centre bearing without taking anything off and it's much easier to find play in joints or diff when you have a point of resistance to wiggle against! Only take it off once you have found a fault!

Steve

EDIT, this is what a knackered centre bearing looks like in situ!

[ham204]

looking at the picture above, I suppose it's best to just remove the prop with centre piece complete and work comfortably on a bench

I'ts easier to check things out with the prop on the car, you can SEE the important rubber bit of the centre bearing without taking anything off and it's much easier to find play in joints or diff when you have a point of resistance to wiggle against! Only take it off once you have found a fault!

Steve

EDIT, this is what a knackered centre bearing looks like in situ!

Its nowhere like that! In fact the rubber seems in very good condition. The part where the UJ's are fitted do move a bit if I shake them by hand, the front part more than the rear. The front UJ looks rusty too. I'll remove the prop and have it overhauled - I'm not sure that repairing the UJ's will cure the 'clonk' but i have t start somewhere!

[soe8m]

I'm getting nervous when I don't have any UJ's in stock anymore. Always have a few and need to replace once a year.

Jeroen

This I can't understand! The reasons for premature failure of a prop UJ (I regard 12 months, even with brutal and high mileage use as premature) are incompetent fitting and poor quality parts - and I would be the last person to accuse someone as experienced as Jeroen of either crime. The only UJs I replace on a frequent/regular basis are Herald/Spitfire/GT6 Driveshaft UJs - and they are a special case, being loaded well beyond anything messrs Hardy and Spicer intended!

Steve

I'm a not to nervous person but after a year i do notice a certain amount of play. My volvo uses the same size and has the same issue's. The UJ's i use are of different makes, GKN, QH, the ones in green boxes of ebay etc. Just the ones i walk into. My volvo is the first series of the 145, 1969 and after 4 years production the 1970 version and newer have a thicker driveshaft with other type UJ's. I suppose it was a known problem back then. In the case of my dolomites they are a bit heavier than std. The big LPG tanks I use of around 90 liter, towbar and more accessoiries do add extra weight. In the holiday's, not in 2016 i used the Volvo instead, there's a caravan being towed to Italy and back with it. In general my driving is not how the teachers did learn me how to drive.

The APK (MOT) rule of not having visible play in the UJ has disappeared in 2009 but i still tend to replace when there's play. You can grease up again and fool yourself but play is play. These cars are my daily cars it's better to replace before than after. Maybe i manage to drive another year with it but you can never tell when they fail. When they fail just cruising 140km/u is not what i want. When you feel a little play and take them out you can see very obvious that the needles are pushed in their cage and who can tell howmany km's they will last. After 20 years of working only classic cars of unknown history i did experienced some live fails of UJ's and i do not like that to happen to my own cars. So for me a little play it's time to replace.

Jeroen

[Carledo]

In all my years and cars, i've only had 2 live failures, one, the rear UJ on a 59 Zodiac II, got me home nearly 100 miles but I was down to 20mph near the end. The other was the front UJ on a 66 Zodiac III. This failed completely without warning and ripped a slot in the tunnel on it's way out of the car - which was not fun! And of course, i've driven thousands of miles in small chassis Triumphs with one or other of the driveshaft UJs clonking and rumbling and fixed a couple that have broken completely (but not on my own cars)
But if I change a prop UJ, that's it! I don't expect to change it again, let alone within a year. I do ALWAYS use good quality UJs, usually genuine Hardy Spicers with grease points in them (Fitchetts sell these) a lesson I learned from the GT6 etc driveshafts.
When I built the prop for the Carledo, I lost the front UJ in favour of a Vauxhall doughnut coupling and the guys doing it had to cook the centre one to separate the front and rear halves of the prop, so it got a new one there. The rear one is still the 1973 original. 5 years of serious use and many line-locked burnouts later, both joints are still perfect. And I would not have expected anything less! But I can't help thinking that changing the joints out so frequently must eventually wear the holes the cups fit into so they will be looser than normal before you've even taken the car off the ramp.

Steve