Got some Spicer 5-1350X ujoints from Denny's for a halfshaft that had a ujoint go bad. Installed them in the half shaft and noticed I couldn't get the ujoints to loosen up. As when you press them, they are stiff to rotate. Then you tap them to loosen them up. Went to install the spindle, and the unjoint looks to be like a millimeter to tall. It won't fit in the spindle. I squished the caps together and the joint measured at 3.643".

Before when I had done the other shaft, I used Neapco Bruteforce. Those ujoints loosened up with the tap, and they fit in the spindle no problem. Though looks like they don't make the Bruteforce joints anymore.

 

somethings wrong....wrong part perhaps. Spicer joints are common in corvette parts. I've had some that were damn tight, the yoke or shaft had to be sterile for them to fit. If it was not perfectly clean they would not seat and fit the yoke assy one side or the other. Make sure the caps are going all the way down too...a single roller/pin that's fallen or crossed up can get caught under the cap and keep it from going on all the way. Too much grease with the tight seals will too..

 

any chance a roller or 2 fell out of place and in to the top of the cap?

 

Your first move should have been to check the product -

You don't mention your location but I can't imagine that there weren't Spicer or Neapco product available. Your Internet purchase problems once again confirm the advantage of a "local purchase". IF there is a product problem it could have been a "toe to toe" conversation to correct it.

Your purchase hints it was for maybe two and you also imply your problem is with both. Seems very unlikely!

 

Brute Force is discontinued, not available locally as they sold out their stock already. They can't get the Moog for aluminum shafts locally either, they only have the Moog for steel shafts. No Spicer locally.

I don't know what else to tell you other than I measured the Spicer's with my digital calipers and they are too wide. Spicer don't mark their joints with the part number, only on the box. Either they were made wrong, or wrong part put in the box.

May just go with the Moog for steel shafts.

 

Spicers are the best U-joint out there (short of some specialty off-road joints). If yours are really that bad/stiff they're either over-greased, under compression (from installation), or a pin fell over. I have had joints that felt slightly stiff initially because the ears got a little tweaked during the removal-installation. They loosened up after a few miles and didn't present a problem.

These are mine that were installed a few months back. These are the old PN. 5-799x (NOS) that has been replaced with 5-1350x. I have to wonder If you really do have a wrong joint, what is it really? (Cause AFAIK not much is close to the size of a 1350) Here's a link to help ID it:
http://www.driveshaftspecialist.com/...D%20Guide.html

 

If your 1350-X won't assemble to the width of 3.625 then you have an issue with the product or the vendor. You mention the packaging was beat, I'd say the vendor "used you" to clear the shelf. Why wasn't it used in his shop?

You seem to hint that you assembled the end-yoke with the joint so if you inserted the retaining rings that's a 3.625 dimension. Your buy of the 1350-X also isn't a coated u-joint for aluminum shafts. You seem to keep pointing that out so if you want the "real thing" for the half-shafts get some 5-3615X which has coated caps. Those will be a find from a local Spicer/Dana drive-line vendor but it's doable. They are expensive!

The BruteForce I believe can still be had 2-0053BF BUT it might be another Internet buy. The A-zone 2-0053DG might actually be a Neapco product and they're really inexpensive and "on the shelf' with a "life-time" warranty.

 

Same caps, but wider? 1410s?

http://www.driveshaftspecialist.com/...D%20Guide.html

 

No, they're not that wide.

The OEM width is 3.622". The Spicer I have measure 3.643". Just a hair too big to keep them from working. Didn't have any problems with the Brute Force joints on the other half shaft.

I hope Denny's take these back as they include a warning sheet with the joints that they don't take back installed joints for any reason.

Is the anti-galvanic corrosion really needed?

I can get locally the Duralast Gold 2-0053DG that have the anti-galvanic corrosion. Or the Moog 231 that are for steel shafts.

Not sure which is better.

 

If you don't need the car and can leave it parked I'd say wait and work it out with Dennys. How many did you buy? How long have you had them? You could certainly always rely on the Credit Card dispute procedure BUT you need to be right and you seem convinced. You have the same issues with all of them?

 

When I had my dana 44, I always used Spicer ujoints with no problems. Squish the end caps with a vice just in case you have a grease pocket in there preventing the caps from seating. Don't worry about the caps for steel vs aluminum. Unless you're going to drive your car in snow for the next 20 years, that shouldn't be a problem.

 

I'm just going to get different joints. The ends in the yoke pretty much got pressed when pressed in. But they didn't loosen up when I tapped them. Then the other ends wouldn't fit in the spindle.

If anti-galvanic corrosion doesn't matter, then may just go with the Moog since I think they are Made in the USA compared to the China Duralast joints.

 

You can't go wrong with Moog. Just make sure they are nongreasable for added strength.

 

[QUOTE=leesvet;1585211517]somethings wrong....wrong part perhaps. Spicer joints are common in corvette parts. I've had some that were damn tight, the yoke or shaft had to be sterile for them to fit. If it was not perfectly clean they would not seat and fit the yoke assy one side or the other. Make sure the caps are going all the way down too...a single roller/pin that's fallen or crossed up can get caught under the cap and keep it from going on all the way. Too much grease with the tight seals will too..[/QUOT
Thought I'd share what I found on this issue. When I pulled the Spicer 5-1350X joint out of the sealed box, I always tape two caps to prevent rollers from falling out. When I pressed the other two caps in the yoke, I could only see half the slot on the last cap. Verified the yokes where not bent in, I started to measure the cap end to cap end distance. It was about 0.034" over the 3.625" normal distance.
What I found was two plastic disks in one cap. They should only have one. Note the grooves in the disk allow center grease to reach the rollers so you need one disk. The disk is about 0.034" which is about half the copper clip thickness. Also noticed that a cap to cap length that goes into the yoke with U bolts was about 0.034" too short. You guessed it, missing a plastic disks.
As a verification step, snug the caps in a vice before installing and verify the distance is 3.625"
The rollers generally stay where they belong but if your wondering, they are 0.080" and would be obvious if one fell out.
​​​​​​One other step I take to prevent the yoke from bending when pressing in caps is to insert a 3/16" x 3/4" bar cut to the exact length of the machined inside yoke surface. Just be careful that this does not mark the white plastic seal as the cap enters the center area.
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