Summer Job!

[rollguy]

We had a little confusion for one part though. When I replaced the rear u-joints, there was no ridge to hold the two bearing cups in place. The old ones were held by a pair of U shaped clips, but the new part doesn't have a slot for these clips. I tried reusing the clips, but they pressed out the boots on the cups and it still slides back and forth. Anyone know what I'm talking about and a solution, besides using the old bearing cups?

Sounds like you got the wrong U joints.

[macdude443]

Really admiring your work, an egg for you.  You must be pretty close to where I grew up.  I'm from Douglassville, near Pottstown right off 422.

[maddog]

We had a little confusion for one part though. When I replaced the rear u-joints, there was no ridge to hold the two bearing cups in place. The old ones were held by a pair of U shaped clips, but the new part doesn't have a slot for these clips. I tried reusing the clips, but they pressed out the boots on the cups and it still slides back and forth. Anyone know what I'm talking about and a solution, besides using the old bearing cups?

i had the same thing happen as it was the only mode of transportation i had at the time i just said screw it and reused the old caps. just make sure you clean them out real good before you regrease them and don't take the other caps off till your ready to put the old ones on and make sure that all the needle are there before you put the caps on other wise you will destroy them very quickly.

[Baskinator]

Ok, thanks for the part number! That looks exactly right. I'll just switch the one I have on there now to the front drive shaft where it has the ridges and get one of those Precision ones for the rear. It'll be easier than reusing the old cups, since a bunch of the rollers came out of place and they were extremely dirty, plus the dust boots were pretty much shot.

Really admiring your work, an egg for you.  You must be pretty close to where I grew up.  I'm from Douglassville, near Pottstown right off 422.

Thanks for the egg! I gave you one for your project as well. My brother and grandparents live in Douglassville, and my Eagle is 5 minutes from Pottstown. Where in central PA are you right now? I go to Shippensburg University, about an hour from the East Coast Eagle Sanctuary.

[macdude443]

I'm in Johnstown now.  I went to Penn State and recently moved here to pursue my radio career.  I have some friends who went to Ship.  I think they've all graduated now.

[Baskinator]

Ok, nice. We'll have to meet up some time if you're back home. User captspillane (Dave) on here is also in Schwenksville, and has a ton of Eagles spread out through that area.

[macdude443]

Good to know.

[mach1mustang351]

"We had a little confusion for one part though. When I replaced the rear u-joints, there was no ridge to hold the two bearing cups in place. The old ones were held by a pair of U shaped clips, but the new part doesn't have a slot for these clips. I tried reusing the clips, but they pressed out the boots on the cups and it still slides back and forth. Anyone know what I'm talking about and a solution, besides using the old bearing cups?"

you got the wrong u-joint. you will find WAY TO OFTEN the stupid parts stores condense part #'s. a u-joint the same dimentions, but worng clips. your looking for the joint i have right in my hand. it is a PRECISION u-joint, part # 455. thats what fit my sx4. before i found it, i didn get away just fine (one sx4 still runs this way) on the bolt on strap, i welded a lip to hold the caps in. you should be able to cross refrence that # to get the correct joint. KEEP THAT BOX TAB WITH THE PART # IN YOUR GLOVE BOX!!!! i try to keep track of all part #'s that are harder to find.

Let's not blame the parts stores.  I have worked in Auto Parts for 8 years now and the main issue is that no parts supplier that I know of knows how to clearly list U joints in a computer.  I have always used paper catalogs to find U joints because of this.   

[shaggimo]

Let's not blame the parts stores.  I have worked in Auto Parts for 8 years now and the main issue is that no parts supplier that I know of knows how to clearly list U joints in a computer.  I have always used paper catalogs to find U joints because of this.   

Absolutely!!  Not even factory joints are easy to look up, I've just gotten to the point where I go look at the U joint on the truck, then go find it on the shelf, much easier than fighting the computer for a straight answer, lol.

[Baskinator]

Yeah, I bought them at Advance online, and they never have good specifications for things. I googled the part # that casper gave me, found out what other vehicles it fits, and then searched for u-joints for that car on Advance's website. Lo and behold, they do have the correct ones, just not listed under AMC Eagle. Plus they're only about $9 each and Advance has some really good discounts with online coupons.

[shaggimo]

I ran into that too, the electronic catalog not even listing u joints for an eagle, had to teach the kid behind the counter how to use the book, lol.

[Baskinator]

Finally arrived today. This thing is unbelievable!

[Baskinator]

This past weekend, I was able to get in a little bit of work while home.

I painted the front driveshaft and installed the new u-joints.



Also painted my coil springs and one of the spring seats. The springs didn't turn out so well because it ended up being too cold out for the paint to cure up correctly. Hopefully it holds up, because I'm not doing that again. If I ever need springs after these, I'll just buy them new and get them powder coated (if they don't come that way already).

Stupid me, I should have listened to casper and bought that exact u-joint for the rear  . The one I got was slightly too wide and didn't fit between the straps. I didn't find this out until after I installed it in the driveshaft. Had to take it out, and now I'm going to order the correct one.

I finally took the time to spray down a ton of bolts on the car with penetrating oil (liquid wrench). Went through about 2 cans . Haven't used it in a while anyway.

Here is my new steering stabilizer that Dave installed for me last time.



I purchased new steel trans cooler lines to install next time. Then I can get this baby up and running.

[Baskinator]

Yeah, my first off-road drive was pretty unforgettable, even though it stalled out a couple times and hardly had brakes

I am so eager to have it drive again, just a little more!

[Baskinator]

So, I'll be home again this coming weekend to work on the car. Maybe this time I'll get it driving???

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew an exact U-joint from Advance, NAPA, or AutoZone that will fit the rear drive shaft/rear axle? None of those stores carry the Precision part #455 which I want by the weekend, and I'm afraid it won't arrive in time if I order it online. This way, I could just pick it up at the nearest store.