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Hey Guys,
I just installed the uni joint of my RB30 Patrol driveshaft rear.
The driveshaft side of the uni joint bearing is still showing a fair bit resistance.
I feel something is NOT right there.
Initially it was so tight, I knew something's definitely NOT right, as in this video.
After hitting the driveshaft trunnion ears with a socket and a piece of wood to ease up any slack between the circlip groove and the trunnion ears, it loosen up a fair bit, but still there's a fair bit resistance.
Above is as good as I can get it. The york side of the uni joint bearings are pretty loose with no dramas.
The old bearing looked pretty good with plenty of grease inside when I removed it.
There weren't any damage I could see to the needle bearings or the surface of the uni joint rods. The reason I decided to replace the uni joint was there's a bit of uneven movement on the driveshaft side of the uni joint bearing. But, I expected that issue to go away after installing the new one. The uneven feeling of the movement(felt by hand) is apparently gone with the new one, but it's still got bit too much resistance.
Any ideas guys?
What I might have done wrong?
Is it possible trunnion ears are slightly bent? If that's the case, I shouldn't have been able to squeeze in the circlips that easily, should I?!!
If you look at the pictures, you can see, the bearing clip is about 0.5mm in from edge in one side, but the other side sits evenly on the edge.
Also when I greased it with the gun, very little grease appeared to have come out of the
side with the bearing cap is in 0.5mm from the edge.
Is that a tell tale sign of bearing cap's in too much?
Then how come I wasn't able to correct that by tapping on the trunnion ears hard enough?
The circlips on both sides are snugly in. There's no gap I can see, feel or correct by hitting it.
Have you pulled it out, inspected the needle bearings, and then re-installed it again?
It does appear to be moving smoothly enough, just very tight. Definitely the correct part number?
Any vibrations if you whack it back in and take the vehicle for a drive?
Not yet. I thought it might have been due to having bit of slack from the circlip groove, so I hit on the trunnion "ears" force any gaps back into place and remove restrictions to the uni joint rods. Which did work, but only nowhere as good as the york end, which moves quite nicely without any restrictions.
I thought I seek some advice before I pulled it apart again.
Yes, it does move lot smoother than before for the driveshaft end of the uni joint, but still fair bit tighter than before.
I expected it to move with as low resistance as the york end.
I haven't fitted it back to the vehicle yet.
I'll pull it out again today and reinstall and see how it goes.
Worse case scenario that i can think of is having accidentally collapsing one of the need bearings & banging it to the
the bearing cap without realizing it. But, the reason I think there's not a good chance of that happening, 'cos it would've made it pretty hard(if not impossible) to get the circlip into the groove. So, I don't think there's any needle bearing damage or dropping to the bottom.
But, I will find out today.
Hi dom, I'm intrigued, please let us know how you go.
On the basis that the bearings are either ok or they are already damaged, if it were me I'd probably put it back in the car as is & take it out for a spin & then drop the driveshaft again to check, expecting that it may have freed up a bit more in use.
However I'm not suggesting you do this as my experience in fitting new uni joints is restricted to a single occasion on a Volkswagon Kombi 32 years ago! LOL.
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On the odd occasion one of the needle rollers could have fallen to the back inside of the uni cup. But if this were to happen I doubt you would get the circlip on....
Watching the first vid its definitely too tight. The second seemed ok to me.
Going by past limited experience here.
Have a look in manual specs for the uni's.
You should find retainers come in different thicknesses.
That way you can adjust them for free play or lack of it with different clips.
A micrometer come in handy here.
Thicker will position the cups inwards tighter and thinner allows them out for a loser fit
never throw out old clips, you may be able to help a mate out, or yourself a some stage down the track.
I've measured old one's bagged n tagged em for another day, spare parts.
always use same thickness on each side to maintain center
Going by past limited experience here.
Have a look in manual specs for the uni's.
You should find retainers come in different thicknesses.
That way you can adjust them for free play or lack of it with different clips.
A micrometer come in handy here.
Thicker will position the cups inwards tighter and thinner allows them out for a loser fit
never throw out old clips, you may be able to help a mate out, or yourself a some stage down the track.
I've measured old one's bagged n tagged em for another day, spare parts.
always use same thickness on each side to maintain center
Thanx mate. I decided to pull it out and examine, as well as measure the circlip thickness & the uni joint.
The old one I pulled out was in pretty good condition, so I definitely keep it as a backup.
The reason I replaced the old one was that the old didn't have a grease nipples to regrease it, and also had some uneven movement
on the driveshaft side bearings. There was slightly more tightness comparing to york side, but nothing like it is now though.
On the odd occasion one of the needle rollers could have fallen to the back inside of the uni cup. But if this were to happen I doubt you would get the circlip on....
Watching the first vid its definitely too tight. The second seemed ok to me.
Yeah, the thought has crossed my mind, but being pretty inexperienced with uni joint installations, I thought it's better to double check
it with the blokes here with more experience on these things. I won't be able to put it in as it is and take it on for a drive, 'cos I pulled out few other things from under the car to fix. Rear part of the exhaust is out to replace all the gaskets and sand the flanges flat as well as check for any leaks and give it a spray of heat resistant paint. I also pulled out the fuel tanks as well.
I am pulling out the tight side of the uni this arvo. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanx.
I pulled the sticking side of the uni joint caps and found out I've actually managed to crush two needle bearings into pieces.
I took few measurements to find out whether there are any differences between two uni joints.
Apparently there is.
Can you please have a look and post me some advice.
I can't scavenge a couple of needle bearing from the old one, 'cos they are different sizes.
So, it looks like I can either buy a another one or I can put the old one back in with new grease.
The old one is actually in pretty damn good condition.
I'm wondering whether my installation technique was crap or the there're slight differences between two that caused the drama.
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Originally Posted by FNQGU
