u joint help
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Mulvane KS
u joint help
in process of changing drive shaft and half-shaft u-joints on my 81 automatic. removed joints and went to oreillys to purchase. they looked up the joints for my car...said all 6 were the same number. the half shafts were that number. but, the drive shaft is smaller. half shaft measures 1 1/16" cap and 3 5/8" cross shaft. drive shaft measures 1 1/16" cap and 3 1/4" cross shaft. Asked them to look up drive shaft joints for a 4-speed, and they are the right size. I thought oriellys parts look-up had bad data, but I've checked other parts suppliers, and they show the same thing. I may be wrong, but it looks like I have a 4 speed drive shaft in my car. Doesn't make sense...I have the build sheet...it shows MX3 Auto Trans. I does have Gymkhana suspension, not sure if that makes a difference. Any ideas?
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,043
Likes: 4
From: Va
Lookup Driveshaft Service in the Yellowpages,
they will be the most knowledgeable, take your shafts in and they will probably have what you need in stock. I recommend the Spicer Life non-greasable u-joints. They will probably swap them out for around $5 each. I wish had done this before I ordered mine from one of the vette vendors as I could have saved about 60-70 bucks, plus I would not have bent my two half-shaft flanges which cost me another 100 bucks to replace. Sometimes it pays to have a shop do some of the work since they have the knowledge and special tools to do it right the first time.
