Tim,
I, too, am in the middle of rebuilding my IRS and ran into the same
sort of frustrations. First off, a couple of the retaining rings
froze, then broke getting them out. Next the continual beating on the
yokes until the end caps moved, little by little. When I did this many
years ago I hammered the u-joint right through the end cap! A soft
faced hammer, like the ones used for wire wheels, work well.
I suggest a couple of things that might help. First, make sure you
clean out the retaining ring area real well so the caps won't meet
additional resistance from the gunk that builds up. And, heating up
the yoke (not the end caps) with a propane torch will expand the
metal, making it easier to get the caps out. Often, only one cap will
be extremely stubborn, so get the rest out, remove the u-joint, then
remove the last one using an equal size drift through the yoke.
John
'67 TR4A
'71 P1800E
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Gaines <mtgaines@cs1.presby.edu>
To: TRIUMPHS@autox.team.net <TRIUMPHS@autox.team.net>
Date: Monday, August 07, 2000 9:23 AM
Subject: universal joint disassembly?
>
>I just spent a couple of hours removing the universal joint
>from a hub assembly. I wanted to be very careful not to damage
>anything, but in the end I destroyed the bearing caps. Everything
>else is okay though, and I had already ordered new U-joints, so its
>no great loss. But I figure there is something in the procedure I am
>missing. The Haynes manual says to remove the retaining clips and
then
>tap on the yoke with a soft metal hammer until the caps start to come
>come out. I didn't have a soft metal hammer, but I was careful to
>hold a piece of oak over the yoke when I hit it. Sure enough, after
>many hits the caps came out about about 1/8 inch each, but that was
>it. I used WD40 and penetrating oil, but no amount of banging would
>get those caps farther out. So what is the secret? What would a
>machine shop use to do the job? For the life of me I can't see how
>a press would be much use in getting BOTH caps out.
>
>Thanks for any advice.
>
>Tim
>
>Tim Gaines
>Clinton, SC
>1980 Spitfire
>1974 TR6
>
>
>
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