The rollers should be alternating; the yokes should be parallel to
each other. Standard driveline practice. (There was only one
occasion where I had to set the u-joints out of phase, and that was
for a driveshaft with 6 joints at various angles in a garbage truck,
and where the manufacturer needed a very quick fix. After getting the
angles set correctly, we went back to normal phasing and retrofitted
the few vehicles that were strange.)
(in ascii: -O]---------------------[O- )
FWIW, Bentley tells you not to disassemble the sliding joint, but an
older Haynes that I have shows the joint nicely. I could scan it if
anyone really wants it. And yes, someone lost the retainer for you.
Thank goodness you found the other rollers.
Donald.
> Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 22:00:20 -0500
> From: "R.D. Waid" <msp01091@isd.net>
>
> On Sunday, June 4, I wrote:
>
> >On removing the
> >driveshaft, I found out that I must have a "sliding spline" driveshaft, as it
> >overextended when I pulled it out and it dropped about 40 little cylindrical
> >rollers onto the garage floor. I believe there must have a reassembly error
>by a
> >PO which allowed this to happen (some kind of missing retainer?).
> >
> >I figured out how to reassemble it (Haynes didn't even have a picture), but
>now
> >I'm two rollers short. What's the expert opinion on leaving it that way? I
>don't
> >see how the rollers could get out of position in the closed up spline, but
> >Murphy is always lurking around. Are these little rollers the kind of thing
> >someone could find at a driveshaft shop or elsewhere?
>
> I found the two missing rollers from the sliding spline driveshaft!! The
> questions I have now are:
>
> 1. Do all the rollers lie in the same plane in the races? As the driveshaft
>was
> falling apart in my hands, it seemed that the rollers were alternating with
>some
> perpendicular to others. The height of the cylindrical rollers is exactly the
> same as the diameter, so they might be able to lie at right angles to each
>other
> in the races. It was easy to put the spline back together if I put them all in
> in the same plane in each race. The spline slides in and out very smoothly.
>
> 2. Should the shaft-mounted yokes of the U-joints be perpendicular or
>parallel?
> ISTR from earlier posts that they should be perpendicular.
>
> Any comments/advice appreciated!
>
> Bob Waid
> 71 Mark IV FK4081L
>
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