Problem with retaining clips on universal joint

[Pete W]

Hi,

I replaced my front ujoint today and it went pretty well. It has smoother action with the new one fore sure. Hopefully it will solve the vibration problem. We'll see tomorrow morning.

The only question I have is with the retaining clips. They all seem to go in OK they just didn't "snap" in like the ones that I took out. I can't rotate them around. Should I squeeze the joint with a vise again, tap the joint cups with a hammer,or, are the clips supposed to be that way at first? It looks like the are cups are sticking out a millimeter from the ends. I squeezed on the vise really hard. If I squeeze harder I'm afraid I might break the joint.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[mustang6]

Those clips are supposed to snap into their grooves pretty easily, so if the caps won't squeeze together enough to allow you to put them in their grooves I think you have a problem. You can try tapping the end caps with a hammer and properly sized socket but if they don't move any further I think there is a good chance one or more of the needle bearings inside the caps has fallen over and is preventing the cap from seating. This is a very common occurrence and it adds about a millimeter of width for each side that has the problem. If a needle bearings has fallen over and you run it like this you will destroy the joint and have a bad vibration.