I just left my local GM Dealership looking at u joints for my 81 automatic. They quoted me $65 a piece for a total of $390 and thats with a discount for our local club members.
The mail order places like summit and zip and the last detail sell them for about 17 bucks a pop.
What can possibly be better with the dealership joints?

 

nothing!

:cheers:

Olivier

 

I have better luck with the cheap auto parts placement u joints then the factory replacements. I buy my u joints for $11-$20CDN for most joints from the local Parts Source.

 

One word ... Spicers ... about $20 each. You want the non greasable kind. Cheapies last about two months on half shafts. :smash:

 

I went to a GM dealership for half shaft u joints and the guy behind the counter sais " 115 bucks ( CND ) for the set " I said I wanted to see them as that was not a bad price for the set. He came back with a box that was the width of a u-joint but it was only about an inch high.

He opened it up and low and behold, only one u-joint was in there "the set "
meant the u-joint and the caps and retainers I guess. One hundred and fifteen bucks for a u-joint, what a rip off !

I asked him how much the Corvette Racing cap was hanging on the wall and he said 15 bucks, it was the best deal I have ever got from GM and the last time I will ever go there.

 

What a ripoff! I think I paid about $14 or so for mine each time I've bought some.

 

Where can i get the spicers from? I have heard people mention brute force ujoints as well, anybody use them/know where to get them?
Thanks

 

Check a local truck parts or drive shaft shop for the spicers. The ones that fit my 69 are #'s 5-625x and 5-627x for the driveshaft nad 1/2 shafts. cost was about $20 each.
Gary

 

2 words for dealers : "F**ckin' Morons !"

Ok, I feel better now. :mad

Anyways - I picked up some Brute Force U-joints for $15 ea..... :yesnod:

 

$12 at Murray's Auto Parts. Heavy Duty with lifetime warrentee. Made in USA.

 

Please don't be angry with me, but I bought my U-Joints from Schucks/Kragen/Checker and they have "JAPAN" stamped on them. They cost $9.49 each and include a zirk fitting so I can keep them primed with fresh grease. Since I just have the L48 then I'm not worried about breaking the U-Joints. I think it's best to get what is readily available and they come with a warranty, which won't hurt my pocket book, and will get my vette back on the road in the least amount of time.

On another note the part which bolts to the wheel hub and has the two rings for the outer U-Joint was quoted to me at $50 each USED! I think that's almost as bad as the $150 used differential carrier. Heck, I'll bet a similar carrier for a ford mustang is half that price, and not necessarily better. To make my point even clearer I did some work restoring 70's Cadillacs, and the local parts guy would bring out two parts for me to look at...both GM parts, both identical in every way including the part number stamped on them; but, the one in the "cadillac" marked box was usually twice as much as the one in the "GM" marked box. Of course nearly everything for a corvette is unique from any other model, but it's still the same price gouging tactic.

 

They come in a GM box???


I would go with Spicer or Brute Force without grease fittings myself as they seem to me to hold up better in 4X4 applications I have used them on.

If you go with u-joints with a zerk fitting, install the fitting so it will be in compression when going forward.

 

I've had 7 C-3's over the years and changed a lot of U-joints. Drive shaft U-joints are one thing, but half shaft U-joints are completely different as they are always changing angles, not to mention the difficulty of doing the job. Virtually all cheapies will not last any time at all in that application. Some won't even fit in the loop end'. If a half shaft joint fails it is a major disaster as the flailing shaft tears the hell out of the car. I do not believe that any warrenty will fix your car if their part fails . Spend the few extra bucks and save youself the trouble of doing the job again in a few months. Any driveline speciallty shop should stock Spicers which are what GM used. they are about $20 each.