I have completed my complete u-joint replacement. While the driveshaft were original (50,000 miles) I actually had a mechanic change the halfshaft ones 22,000 miles ago. I was dumb and used Moog 231C. I have a mile of gravel to drive in and out. I don't think the grease seals are as good on the Moog as they are on the Spicer. I had 1/4" to 1/2" of encrusted gravel dust around each one.


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So I wanted to change them out since I was doing the driveshaft. I did the spot weld bending method for the driveshaft removal. It took 30 seconds to bend it with a cresent wrench.


I will say the exhaust removal was a little more time consuming than I expected. I got the exhaust out by myself but had the neighbor help me put it back. I unhooked the tie rod end and dropped the spring. I bought one of the tiger type tools to change the u-joints and it worked well except at the spline end of the driveshaft. A large c-clamp worked to install the new. You can imagine after seeing the pictures that both the car and the shafts required a lot of cleaning. They cleaned up nicely.

When reinstalling the one thing I was scared about was dropping a cup and have the bearing splatter all over the place. When I got the differential side locked in I used a zip tie to hold it in place until I was ready for the new strap install.

There was excessive wear on the Moogs for only 22,000 miles. The driveshaft had some wear but felt very "notchey" after removal.



I used all new straps and bolts. I spent a half hour test fitting one new strap and could not get the second bolt started. I finally realized the holes on that strap were 3/16" farther apart than all the others. Denny's Driveshafts sent a new one out immediately. I settled on 200 in/lbs for the halfshafts. The driveshaft was torqued to "goodentite" by my feel. While the exhaust was out I cleaned it up and used BBQ paint on the mufflers.

The new straps sure look better than my old rusty ones.

What I ordered from Denny's Driveshafts.

The quickjack sure made this easier. I don't think I could have done it with just my jack stands. Maybe 40 years ago. Thats about it, no real problems except greasy dust falling in my face a few times. The Moog 231C is non greasable but the seals suck. The driveshaft still had grease in those with ZERO dust buildup. I sure hope the Spicers seal better. Thanks for reading. Dan

 

I missed a picture. This is the access I had with the spring dropped.

I also missed giving my 74 year old wife credit for holding the wheel studs from moving with a piece of wood while I torqued the new strap bolts. Fritz metal preclean with 0000 steel wool really cleans the aluminum. Dan

 

Nice job Dan, that is a job that you want to take your time and be very careful. I made the mistake of not confirming that the clip was in the groove and had one of the U Joints fall out while driving. Thankfully I was going under 40 and noticed it quickly, but it did require a new half shaft.

 

I cleaned each clip channel very carefully. I checked each clip a dozen times to confirm they were all in. Have you ever seen oily dust built up on a u-joint like mine was? Dan

 

I tired the Moog 231C once when I was in a hurry and couldn't wait for the Spicers to be delivered. 3 of 4 worked fine for a long time, but one had an obviously unsmooth rotation to one cup. I had to install it, but it didn't last more than a ~2000mi. Maybe they are still fundamentally well designed, but QC doesn't seem to be there.

 

I actually bought 6 of the Moogs years ago when I had my halfshafts done. I was under the mistaken belief that all 6 of the u-joints were the same size. I actually have them both as an auction on Ebay right now. Two starting at $2.00 and no bids yet. oh well, if they don't sell I am right where I have been for years. Dan

EDIT: I finally got someone to bid $2.00 for both!!!

 

Thank You, Dan for the part numbers. I "saved image as" (the pic of the invoice with the part numbers) printed it for a hard copy in the 92's paper file, then moved the image to the 92's folder on my computer.

Cheers.

 

You are welcome. The reason I posted this picture of the invoice is there is a lot of misinformation, incorrect information and outdated information on the internet and even this forum about the correct Spicer part numbers. If you do a search of this forum for the correct part numbers you will get posts from 20 years ago with different numbers or just wrong numbers. I just wanted to post the correct numbers for today for a 1996. Dan

 

I really wish someone would post about the grease leakage and dust buildup on my old Moog's. Maybe this is more common than I think. I could have pressure washed them clean but thought that would be stupid as it would force water into the bearings. Maybe if I drove all day in driving rain it would look cleaner but that never happened. The driveshaft Spicer's had ZERO dust buildup. Dan

 

When I did my half shaft u joints there was no grease and dust buildup on the exterior. Just old rusty looking metal.

 

Thank you. I know living on gravel and not driving in heavy rain very often will allow the leaking grease to build up dust and dirt more than others. I just think they looked horrible. Note that the gravel dust buildup is not everywhere just on the u-joint. Dan

 

Well, my two brand new Moog 231C just sold at auction. I got a dollar a piece. Since these are for a Corvette I guess a lot of Corvette owners think these are junk. Dan edit: With my bad guess on shipping, I ended up losing $3.01 on my great auction them off idea.