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Hey, I think I may have a ujoint going bad on 1971. Car drives fine but when I quickly let off gas in low gear the rear sounds shaky, rough, and makes noise. What is best way to check up ujoint and what brands oar suggested? Thank you again!
You should be able to grab the halfshaft and driveshaft to wiggle them. It is easy to just unbolt the shafts and check the joints. Most that I have encountered with problems are obvious from looking at them. If you want to replace them, look for the Dana solid spicer ujoints. The halfshafts are a 5-1350X and the driveshaft should be a 5-1330X. Some of the earlier c3's might have used a 1310 joint with an auto, but I think that changed for the 71 model year.
Do you like greasable or non greasable? And can they be challenging to replace on creeper or simple?
I prefer the solid non-greasable versions. They are not hard to replace at all. Just unbolt the retaining u-bolts, straps and flanges. Take it over to a bench vise or buy a u joint tool. Press the old ones out and press the new ones in. Just be careful with the new ones as you do not want to break the plastic grease seal on them by pressing too far.
Since this is a relatively recent thread about U-joints, mentioning Spicer 1350s, I would point out that others have previously mentioned they're a tight fit. That said, you can make them work by removing material from the end clips. It's important, because if you try to cram them in there it puts quite a lot of resistance on the joints (think barely able to move them by hand sort of tight).
I used a small round of wood, some inside out masking tape loops, and some 150 grit sandpaper. Had to take anywhere from .005-.008" off of them, depending on which joint location.
centering the caps in the yoke can be tricky.
like said, tight is bad,
the yokes are easily deformed, squeezed together, this causes too tight u joint
fit. the trick is to get the yokes spread back out.
good luck
Don't attempt to change the half shaft U-Joint without a backing plate on the half shaft flange or you will bend it and never get the U-Joint installed correctly.
Since this is a relatively recent thread about U-joints, mentioning Spicer 1350s, I would point out that others have previously mentioned they're a tight fit. That said, you can make them work by removing material from the end clips. It's important, because if you try to cram them in there it puts quite a lot of resistance on the joints (think barely able to move them by hand sort of tight).
I used a small round of wood, some inside out masking tape loops, and some 150 grit sandpaper. Had to take anywhere from .005-.008" off of them, depending on which joint location.
That's what it looks like when it's too tight.
My method
Hope this is helpful.
Excellent advice. The key is the picture with the end of the clip sticking up. That tells you the u-joint cap is pressing against the clip. Remove material as shown until the clip end lies flat against the cap. Be careful not to remove too much material as that will allow the cap to move inside the shaft (or flange), causing wear and issues down the road.
My Spicer U-Joints came with a kit of different thickness clips that were color coded. I found the copper coloured ones were the thinnest and fit snug but the U-Joint moves somewhat freely.
1971 ujoint
