I NEED Upgraded Driveshaft U-Joints

The grease in the non greaseable units need to have the caps removed and grease put in the caps and then you reinstall them and that grease forces the assembly grease out. The grease in them from the mfgr is only there to hold the needle bearings in place during assembly.

I have found the the grease for mercury outboards lower ends is the best grease for u joints. NAPA sells it. It meets all the requirements of the mfgr and has the added property of not turning in to a white goopy mess when exposed to water.

I have not heard anything back yet. I suspect that they are "On Holiday" so I will let it wait until next week.

No worries. I suspect the snap ring to be the problem. I wonder if there is a better snap ring I could use...

Getting back to this I did not hear back. I may have to make a phone call.

Whatever you can do is appreciated.

Thanks! John

So, I went by Fastenal to see what they had and came away with a free pack of Taiwan made snap rings...I figure I can at least try periodically replacing the rings.

I picked these up as spares--Moog but says "Made in Japan." You guys think that'll make any difference?

They are GMB. Units. Decent. They make virtually all the u joints used by toyota. They are the factory units. Check that the caps spin freely with no binding or grinding. Use a quality grease recommended by gmb and go for it.

Have you inspected the yokes to make sure that there is no damage to the groves for the snap rings. I don't know how much a new drive shafts costs but if it fails again I would consider replacement of the whole unit. Could be a balance issue

I don't know much about starlets but could a bad motor mount or transmission mount be an issue?

Engine mounts are new. I thought about a vibration issue but really, I can't "feel" any issues until the u-joints let go and then it's bad. No warning--just boom. The grooves look good visually and I never have a hard time installing or removing the clips with snap ring pliers.

We do have a local custom driveshaft shop that I've been thinking about taking the driveshaft to and having it checked for balance or even upgrading to an aluminum unit.

Were you having this issue before the mounts were replaced?

Yes. This has been a constant issue with the car.

Can you post a few photos of the yokes and a complete drive shaft?

Have the driveshaft balanced - only good things would come of it, even if it isn't the cause of your issues.

Probably won't get any pics of the driveshaft yet but I do think I have the dead u-joint around here. It was a GMB unit like the one pictured. I was looking at the bearing caps(?) and noticed one that that appeared to be worn...not where the bearing surface sits in the driveshaft yoke, but the face--the area that would be under the snap ring. It had worn down significantly....the ridge and GMB lettering were definitely worn to near smoothness.

That would lead me to believe that the snap ring for that bearing cap must have been worn pretty thin as well. Unless snap rings are substantially harder than bearing caps?

Bearing cap / cup are stainless steel. I am wondering if there I a fitment issue with the u joints. I wonder if you are getting the wrong one and it is a mm or two to short. Could be a part number problem. Especially if they are re branding the gmb units

If you hve,a vernier caliper and can measure the distance from the inside edge of the two snap rings I could then compare that to the specs I have of all the gmb units.

Also measure the u joints you have end to end and compare them to your measurement of the snap rings.

Another thing to try is to see if the Toyota dealer has some on the shelf tgat you could measure to compare to.

I doubt bearing cups are stainless. If the cups appear worn they too loose in the yoke, so either the yoke is worn out or the u-joint is the wrong size, or even both. Please post some photos.

Ok, we've finally identified the problem, a spun bearing cap machining through the clip, that should never happen. The cap is a bearing race, so it's very hard, probably harder than the clip. Probably just a worn out yoke. If it's not cracked or anything funky like that some of that loctite magic sleeve retaining compound might fix it.

Loctite magic sleeve retaining compound?

In reply to redvalkyrie:

There are a few different formulations, it's a fancy anaerobic cure glue that turns a slip fit of two parts into a press fit or a press fit into a tighter press fit. I think number 680 or 620 would work best in this case, should run about $15 for a small bottle. Should work if you have less than 0.015" of slop and degrease things carefully.

I just got introduced to combination U-joints. I hope a Moog Super 1310/1330 non-grease turns out to be reliable. It's a track car, so inspection and replacement will be regular and frequent.

I bought the Loctite 680. Let me just get this straight--the bearing cups are not supposed to rotate or slip outward with centrifugal force? Or are they supposed to slip outwards against the snap rings and stay there but not rotate within the yoke?

Cups should not move. They should be a snug fit. The clips are there as additional support and as a safety if the cups come free. They kind of work together.