Should I rename this to Auto Repair 101?

Hehe perhaps you should :-) My my, what a lot of petrol heads we have around here!

If it helps Uli stay one step ahead of the mechanics, all's well.

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"Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein
"With cats." kittyman

Should I rename this to Auto Repair 101?

Hehe perhaps you should :-) My my, what a lot of petrol heads we have around here!

A Universal joint is usually in the drive shaft. It is a little cross shaped thing


Which fits into the drive shaft like:



A drive shaft will typically have two of them. One at the axle end, and one near the transmission. In modern trucks, there will be a keeper for the drive shaft near the middle of the shaft to keep the drive shaft from digging into the road and ripping the rear axle out if the forward universal joint comes apart.

As a teenager I saw a 4wd truck loose his rear drive shaft coming to a stop light. I was looking directly at the truck when his drive shaft dropped then bounced back up and hit the underside then went side ways from under the vehicle. He was lucky he was only going 20 MPH at the time.

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Old James

Thank you to all.
Should I rename this to Auto Repair 101?

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
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A Universal joint is usually in the drive shaft. It is a little cross shaped thing


Which fits into the drive shaft like:



A drive shaft will typically have two of them. One at the axle end, and one near the transmission. In modern trucks, there will be a keeper for the drive shaft near the middle of the shaft to keep the drive shaft from digging into the road and ripping the rear axle out if the forward universal joint comes apart.

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BOINC WIKI

CV's being constant velocity joints.

My LR has loads of CVs and no "conventional" universal joints - none are cheap to replace, but have stood all I've thrown at them thus far (only mud will tell....)

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

If this is a 4WD vehicle, I believe you have a front driveshaft with a universal joint at each end, a rear drive shaft with a u joint at each end, with a transfer case in the middle.
Then in the front you also have a short drive axle going from the transmission to each wheel with a CV (constant velocity) joint. Similar to a u joint, but more complex, expensive, and difficult to replace.
There may also be a short drive axle with a CV joint to each rear wheel, if it is full independent suspension, which I suspect but am not certain of.

The u joints should not be too expensive to replace. The CV joints are a bigger, more expensive deal.

Here is a list of some of the driveline parts from Rockauto. Please note that any pricing is discounted retail, not what a dealer or mechanic might charge you, but good for comparison.

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"Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein
"With cats." kittyman

... These days you just fit an exchange alternator.

Unless you are like me, and LOVE high end stereo equipment and alarm systems in your car; then, you need your alternator built up to spec... My '89 Accord's alternator was rebuilt and beefed up for a total cost of $500 in 2000. I had a hard time before the rebuild; having bought and installed after market alternators, and they kept burning themselves out. Came to find out that the original alternator was a Counter Clockwise rotation, and the after market one's, (specifically sold for my car), were Clockwise rotation. So, even though they were supposedly built for my car, they weren't built correctly; and, I ended up, (thankfully that I kept my car's original), rebuilding my factory alternator to specifications. I also replaced my battery in the Accord with an Optima Gel Cell, (red top), battery for better cold cranking amps, and longer life. After that, no more electrical problems. :-)

However; my current car, a 2009 Civic Hybrid, has a different type of charging system. Also; when I bought the Civic Hybrid, I had all of the factory equipment installed. So, I don't need the after market stuff in this car.

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TimeLord04
Have TARDIS, will travel...
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And U-bolts are mostly used to connect solid axle housings/beams to leaf springs in the rear end of vehicles and in the front of most 4x4's.

Cheers.

Ok, I seem to be misinformed. I thought a U joint is related to the drive axles, but now I am told it is part of the drive shaft.

I think its a difference in terms from the UK to the USA. A universal joint is a coupling connecting a drive shaft to its driver and driven end, and used when the drive train is not fixed or in a straight line. A typical example would be a rear wheel drive car that has a propellor shaft linking the gearbox with the rear axle differential. Usually there would be a mid length centre support bearing.

The other use is on a front wheel drive, or four wheel drive vehicle where the drive shafts to the wheels are connected to the engine unit via UJ's at the front, and the two drive shafts connected by UJ's to the differential at the rear. Years ago you could buy UJ repair kits with needle roller bearings and U bolts, but it was a pig of a job. These days it is cheaper and easier to replace the whole joint. Again, time was when you could strip your dynamo down and get the commutator skimmed, and rebuild it with new brushes. These days you just fit an exchange alternator.

Drive shaft = Axle = prop shaft
Centre mounting = transmission mount

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHH
Did I not say HELP.
I am a bit busy to Goggle.
Wiggo is there a difference?

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

I take it that you mean a universal joint and not a U-bolt Uli?

Or was it a u-bolt that holds a universal joint?

Cheers.

Ok, I seem to be misinformed. I thought a U joint is related to the drive axles, but now I am told it is part of the drive shaft.

Help

I hope you all know, how truly grateful I am for insight on time and part prices.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Thank you for the info John. One U joint was replaced. It doesn't make sense to replace just one, so I am good with that, unless it is on the same side.
Rear passenger side, IIRC.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

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From what I have seen of vehicle control in Europe I think you have it easier than us Julie. Any truly unfit vehicle there has to get fixed or scrapped. In most of North America if it runs and looks sort of OK you can sell it. I steer clear of second hand cars here.

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secondhand vehicles are always a nightmare

Not necessarily. My last car was a 20 year old Ford Fiesta, only costed €400, best darn car I've ever had. I could go up to 160km/hour on the freeway without problems. It's not that I got lucky that one time because all the cars I ever owned were second hand. You just have to look out who sells it, if the papers are ok and if they didn't rewind the mileage recorder etc

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rOZZ
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A transmission mount should not be that big a deal. Nor should a universal joint. The mount itself should cost around $20 or so, and should take an hour or so to put in. The U-joint should cost around $50 and also take around an hour to put in. I have done both in the past.

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BOINC WIKI

Uli, secondhand vehicles are always a nightmare, I think you were lucky with the last one, and doubly unlucky with losing it in the way that you did. This one seems to have been not quite the bargain is appeared to be, but if the price was right and took into account any work needed, then it was worth it financially. The point is, that at the end of the day, you will have a rig with lots of new parts, rather than one that worked from day 1, which could have gone wrong at any time later. Hassle now for peace in the future?

Keep us in touch :-)

Uli, I'm sorry to hear that the ownership of your new rig hasn't been smooth sailing.

Cheers.