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| 71 Dodge Dart family owned since new https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56322 |
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| Author: | Danyael [ Thu Nov 12, 2015 4:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Constant Velocity Joint, Crosshead or U-Joint? |
Terminology, darn terminology. So here in Mexico this bloody thing is called a "cruceta de cardán" and the best I can do is Constant Velocity Joint (definitely not at crosshead for a piston rod, but maybe a Cardan). Anyway, I had thought that at the car had been thoroughly greased throughout. But no, whoever had done the service for my dad had either neglected the U-joint or something happened on the way to or back from Vallarta. The car basically started doing "bell ringing" noises when driven that were not constant but quite startling. Off to the pit, identified the noise as coming from the U-joint at the rear of the shaft (next to the differential). Got the whole thing off and voilá, the U-joint had gone to a better life! https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PFv0 ... NfLWM/view It makes me wonder how close was this thing to failing completely. Of the four points, two were badly rusted and of those the bearings were gone in one of the ends! Fortunately it didn't take too long to replace. Noticed that there is a bit of oil coming from the transmission to shaft gasket. Will have to get it replaced as soon as I get my hands on one lest it fails on me...and being a car that goes out on the road often it becomes highly important... |
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| Author: | Danyael [ Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Death to the upper control arms (almost!) |
I really hate the government of the city were I live. They do not know the definition of smooth tarmac and many streets have potholes; some that could easily swallow a whole tire. When it rains it nearly becomes an obstacle course! I'm thinking of applying as a driver for the military! The right front tire had started to make some rattling noise when traveling on less than smooth road and applying the brake. I was sure the bushings had died, maybe even the ball joints had started to give. Here are the bushings...pretty fried...especially those of the right-hand tire... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PFv0 ... JnRE0/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PFv0 ... JlTzg/view Bought all parts (not bad, bushings for a tenner and each ball joint for a twenty). Worked on the left side and no problems with the bushings but the ball joint didn't seem to tighten up as firmly as I would have liked. Bit of welding got me happy. Oh but the right side. The bushings are supposed to need to be taken off with either a press or with a tool (I "made" one following the post HERE) and these buggers just popped out when I took the UCA off, and the ball joint had been welded previously so that when I finally got the welding points off it was loose! Got the UCA to my master turner friend and he refilled and turned the three holes. He had to "remove" the threading on the new ball joint, pressed it in and then welded the edge to keep it secure. I'm guessing that new UCA's are in order. I'm thinking of "upgrading" to tubular ones. Has anyone had experience with Mancini Racing ones? Are they worth it? Mancini tubular UCA's |
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| Author: | Danyael [ Fri Oct 21, 2016 7:41 am ] |
| Post subject: | Warp speed... or is it warped |
So it was time to change the strut rod bushings. I could both feel that the suspension was going soft and I was able to hear some noise when going through uneven road (not that these are hard to find were we live!). Fishing around I found and followed this short "How to" http://www.moparmax.com/tech/2009/iv_4-strut-5.html to remove the strut rods and change the bushings. Only to find to my horror that the driver's side strut rod was warped beyond usable. Took picture after deciding to make the thing into a breaker bar. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8PFv ... 1R3aTg2WEk I decided that it was time to implement a more "radical" fix by going ahead with the plans I'd made with my master machinist friend. Basically we'd get a strut rod, cut, machine and place a flexible end. Main problem was that as much as we tried we were not able to get our hands on proper measurements. Furthermore, unbeknownst to us there are two different strut rods for A-bodies until I stumbled onto post #13 here ( http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/thr ... gs.143687/ ). And lo and behold my Dart had one of each type!!! No wonder Dad had such troubles getting the car aligned! After a bit of trial and error (we got the rods too long in the beginning as we started with 45.5 cm between stops) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8PFv ... TdEUnRTVjQ we got it down to size so it would hold the LCA at the proper angle in relation to the chassis mounts (we did take about .5 degree to get more +caster when alignment was done). In the end we had a final distance between stops of 43.95cm. Back to front after the stop sit a metal bushing cup (with the convex side towards the K), a nylon washer/bushing. Then the K. After the K there is another nylon washer/bushing, a metal bushing cup (convex side to the K) a steel spacer, a spring washer and the tightening nut torqued to 50 lbs/foot. Since installation we've gone through a couple of minor revisions but it seems that all in all the design is sound. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8PFv ... DR5ZkY1M0k |
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| Author: | sandy in BC [ Fri Oct 21, 2016 8:36 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Nice Work! |
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| Author: | emsvitil [ Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
It's asking me to sign into google to see pictures......... |
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