1982 u joint strap bolts
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,286
Likes: 4
From: Guam
1982 u joint strap bolts
I am working on a 1982 with the little bolts that hold the u joint retaining strap to the yokes. On this vette, the bolt is a small metric inverted hex head type bolt. The problem is that you can easily strip the edges off of the inverted hex head if you use a 12 point 5/16 socket.
But if you want to solve the problem, you can change them to a conventional 6 pt hex headed bolt. I was looking thru the GM parts inventory today and found the hex head replacement. The GM part number is 12338087. They come 10 to a package and cost just over a $1 a piece.
So if you are having a problem, this might be your cure. I am not sure if any other year vettes use this small inverted hex bolt. But the 82 in my shop sure does.
Ed
But if you want to solve the problem, you can change them to a conventional 6 pt hex headed bolt. I was looking thru the GM parts inventory today and found the hex head replacement. The GM part number is 12338087. They come 10 to a package and cost just over a $1 a piece.
So if you are having a problem, this might be your cure. I am not sure if any other year vettes use this small inverted hex bolt. But the 82 in my shop sure does.
Ed
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 2
From: Arkansas
Originally Posted by Sharky Guam
I am working on a 1982 with the little bolts that hold the u joint retaining strap to the yokes. On this vette, the bolt is a small metric inverted hex head type bolt. The problem is that you can easily strip the edges off of the inverted hex head if you use a 12 point 5/16 socket.
But if you want to solve the problem, you can change them to a conventional 6 pt hex headed bolt. I was looking thru the GM parts inventory today and found the hex head replacement. The GM part number is 12338087. They come 10 to a package and cost just over a $1 a piece.
So if you are having a problem, this might be your cure. I am not sure if any other year vettes use this small inverted hex bolt. But the 82 in my shop sure does.
Ed
But if you want to solve the problem, you can change them to a conventional 6 pt hex headed bolt. I was looking thru the GM parts inventory today and found the hex head replacement. The GM part number is 12338087. They come 10 to a package and cost just over a $1 a piece.
So if you are having a problem, this might be your cure. I am not sure if any other year vettes use this small inverted hex bolt. But the 82 in my shop sure does.
Ed
I ran in to that same problem this past weekend on my 82. I used a 1/4" 12 point boxed in wrench to remove them. As my luck would have it, I got three off with no problems, the fourth was already stripped..I neded up taking it off with a pair of vice grips.
The bolt thread pattern is 1/4" - 28, I went to autozone and they sell "U-joint repair kits", but the kit for my vette didn't have the same bolt size and thread pitch I needed for some reason. I ended up getting a kit made for a chrysler......which had the 1/4-28" bolt with the 6 point hex head. The kits are about 3 bux for one u-joint strap (2 bolts). It worked fine for me.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 16,945
Likes: 9
Those shields are a PITA.....if someone wants some, I'm not using mine. they're in perfect condition but only work on a stock trailing arm and not on my home built stuff.
As for the strap bolts, they're not metric, they're 1/4-28 UNF thread. I have NAS quality 12 points on all those places, works much better than the stock stuff.
As for the strap bolts, they're not metric, they're 1/4-28 UNF thread. I have NAS quality 12 points on all those places, works much better than the stock stuff.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 511
Likes: 4
From: Phoenix AZ
My 81 has 12 point screws on the half shaft u-joint retainers and my 82 (as well as my previous 82) had torx heads. If I remember corectly it was a T-10. The torx heads are a real pain because at that size most tool manufactures go to a larger diameter socket size (3/8") which make it so big it can't sit square on the bolt head.
I found the same "help" packages for a jeep that had the same size u-joint bolts.
I found the same "help" packages for a jeep that had the same size u-joint bolts.
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Joined: Aug 2004
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Originally Posted by Twin_Turbo
Those shields are a PITA.....if someone wants some, I'm not using mine. they're in perfect condition but only work on a stock trailing arm and not on my home built stuff.
As for the strap bolts, they're not metric, they're 1/4-28 UNF thread. I have NAS quality 12 points on all those places, works much better than the stock stuff.
As for the strap bolts, they're not metric, they're 1/4-28 UNF thread. I have NAS quality 12 points on all those places, works much better than the stock stuff.
