universal joint on 85 300 SD

[yuke]

I have a bad vibration problem and suspected the center bearing and holder upon inspection the rubber part of the center bearing holder was all ripped up and allowed about 1" of up and down movement of the driveshaft. I took rear part of driveshaft off with holder and bearing attached. I had a heck of a time to get the bearing off which I think was good yet. I noticed the u joint moves very smooth the one way but the other way it moves in notches does this mean u joint is no good and that is probably what chewed up the rubber part of the holder? I think I will replace center holder and bearing and will also try to replace the u joint the way diesel 911 did in one of his repairs. I think if you get it centered you should be all right. Otherwise I do not know where I could get a rebuilt one at and imagine it would be pretty costly where as I could get the u joint for around $15 and center bearing and holder for about the same..

[vstech]

Take pictures

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by yuke

I have a bad vibration problem and suspected the center bearing and holder upon inspection the rubber part of the center bearing holder was all ripped up and allowed about 1" of up and down movement of the driveshaft. I took rear part of driveshaft off with holder and bearing attached. I had a heck of a time to get the bearing off which I think was good yet. I noticed the u joint moves very smooth the one way but the other way it moves in notches does this mean u joint is no good and that is probably what chewed up the rubber part of the holder? I think I will replace center holder and bearing and will also try to replace the u joint the way diesel 911 did in one of his repairs. I think if you get it centered you should be all right. Otherwise I do not know where I could get a rebuilt one at and imagine it would be pretty costly where as I could get the u joint for around $15 and center bearing and holder for about the same..

Since diesel911 did his repair there have been reports that the needle bearings in the universal joint get rusty and that that causes the notchiness. Apparently the fix is to tap the joint one way - I think then soak in penetrating oil? - and then tap it back.

I haven't done this myself yet but I do actually have a W201 propshaft to practise on so could do so if necessary!

[Diesel911]

Ya, the U-joint replacement is kind of experimental. Fortunately the U-joints are cheap.

That beaing said; even though My U-Joint hat that sticky/notched area it did not cause Vibration the way it was and neither did the Drive Shaft Mount; the Rubber of which was only starting to rip.
I replaced the U-joint because it was Me being picky about it and the Rusty Needle Bearings as the casue of the sticky U-joint is new info as of 2014. I did My U-joint it must be 4-5 Years ago now so I did not have the Rusty Needle Bearing info to see if that was the cause of the sticking.

If you replace the U-joint what ever make of U-joint you use go to that Company's site and verify that bearking cap spacing.

Fortunately the Yokes are machined flat and you can use the flat surface to measure the depth the Bearings go into the Yoke.

Mine was not the original Thread and I have a similar Thread on Benzworld where I was allowed to post some sources of the U-joint. I think there is also another Thread on Benzworld by someone else.

I think this is the Rusty Needle Bearing Thread
W123 Propeller shaft vibration tears up rubber mounts, replaced nearly everything

[lespigpen]

911 is spot on. Did this myself only to discover the u joint is noN
Serviceable per MB. found a local driveshaft shop in Baltimore to
Weld and balance a new joint in. It too had slight knotchyness
IMHO it did not need replacing. The lack of flexing causes this to not get lubed as normal u joints do. The center bearing keeps the shaft straight.

[charmalu]

Originally Posted by yuke

I have a bad vibration problem and suspected the center bearing and holder upon inspection the rubber part of the center bearing holder was all ripped up and allowed about 1" of up and down movement of the driveshaft. I took rear part of driveshaft off with holder and bearing attached. I had a heck of a time to get the bearing off which I think was good yet. I noticed the u joint moves very smooth the one way but the other way it moves in notches does this mean u joint is no good and that is probably what chewed up the rubber part of the holder? I think I will replace center holder and bearing and will also try to replace the u joint the way diesel 911 did in one of his repairs. I think if you get it centered you should be all right. Otherwise I do not know where I could get a rebuilt one at and imagine it would be pretty costly where as I could get the u joint for around $15 and center bearing and holder for about the same..

The notches in the Joint did not chew up the rubber part of the holder.

I had a DL shop replace the U-Joint and bearing along with a new serviceable joint. 33K miles later I noticed the rubber almost totally ripped out. Iam thinking they used a Chicom part.
I replaced it with a new Fibi, and the bearing is a FAG which is made in Korea. the Fibi is Chicom. we`ll see how long this one lasts.

The DL`s from our own cars and one`s I have pulled in PNP have all had the notchy feel.

You would be better off to purchase the parts from the dealer, after all the originals lasted well over 200K miles. Even a used one from PNP would last longer than some of this Chicom stuff. LOL

Charlie

[yuke]

I inspected everything closely yesterday before ordering parts what I found was 1 of my 6 bolts holding front flex joint was very lose and rubber part of center bearing was totally trashed although the center bearing seemed fine I probably could have left that on but destroyed it trying to get it off. Parts I ordered from ********z were center bearing holder and rubber in one and a universal joint, and rubber boot that goes in front of bearing total price $30+ shipping. Called a dealer and they wanted $300 just for center bearing and holder I really dont know how they sell any parts to anyone at those prices. I am going to reinstall the driveshaft with same universal and see how it rides if I still have the vibration I will replace u-joint but I have the feeling I wont have to.I will post update after new center bearing holder is installed.

[Simpler=Better]

Originally Posted by lespigpen

911 is spot on. Did this myself only to discover the u joint is noN
Serviceable per MB. found a local driveshaft shop in Baltimore to
Weld and balance a new joint in. It too had slight knotchyness
IMHO it did not need replacing. The lack of flexing causes this to not get lubed as normal u joints do. The center bearing keeps the shaft straight.

Do you have contact info the the shop? Lots of people looking for good balancing shops.

[75Sv1]

I thought I read somewhere that the Ford Fairmount u-joints would work. The MD shaft (240D) of mine they are staked in, so no clip ring to hold it in. A neighbor said that some u-joints use an inside clip to hold in the u-joints. I'd be interested if anyone has direct experience with what brand number etc. of u-joint would fit or work

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by 75Sv1

I thought I read somewhere that the Ford Fairmount u-joints would work. The MD shaft (240D) of mine they are staked in, so no clip ring to hold it in. A neighbor said that some u-joints use an inside clip to hold in the u-joints. I'd be interested if anyone has direct experience with what brand number etc. of u-joint would fit or work

If you knock in one bearing the staked area is easily ground off; do that to the other 3.

After that the only tech issue is setting the depth of the Bearing Cap.
Re-staking is not a big issue just do it in a manner that keep you from knocking in the Bearing Caps.

Balance might or might not be an issue. Grinding the stakes off should change the Balance. I did not balance My Drive Shaft after replacing the U-joint. I figured I try it on the Car and if there was no obvious problem leave it and since I had no issue I left it alone.
So am I set for another 30 Years of use?

The correct U-joint is available and inexpensive. But, it is one of those lifetime lubed ones just like the original (I re-lubed the new one with Wheel Bearing Grease before I installed it).

Some people wanted a U-joint that could be greased. and that is one of the reasons for the use of other types of U-joints and of course some wanted a different way of retaining the Joint so that it could be re-newed with out any grinding and so on.

If you grind it and install what was the $18 at the time Stock Type U-joint you can do it yourself and there is a really good chance you won't need to re-balance it.

If you do anything else you will likely have to find a shop to do the complete job.

Lastly a lot of re-balancing Shops apparently don't have the 3 legged fixtures for their Machines.


My Benz World post with all of the U-joint sources.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w123-e-ce-d-cd-td/1581728-another-u-joint-driveshaft-thread.html#post4677977

My U-joint Repair thread 2011
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=293976

[Diesel911]

I took a lot of time on the internet looking at dimensions that the U-joint Makers listed and I did not find any that fit as some are suggesting.

[75Sv1]

Pelican Part (this website) list the u-joints. I was over at my neighbors this week. He was doing the tie rods for a Jeep GC. Some did not have greese (zerk) fittings. He drilled and tapped them. I had to go get a tap (1/4-28). Now that was not on a rotating assembly. They also make some that go in the end caps. I like them better, but you need to Needle Greese fitting for the Greese Gun. Less than $10.

[SD Blue]

Before you do anything, mark everything before taking anything apart. This will help with your balance more than anything else. In fact, it is likely that you won't need to balance at all.

When I did mine, it pretty much went as Diesel 911 said in his thread. However, what I did different was to use a large punch (clevis pin) and small sledge hammer to drive the old joint out. Pretty quick and easy.

The tedious part, since I don't have a vice, was to re-stake the joint. Every punch seemed to want to slip because it wasn't sharp enough. A sharper punch bent as if it was non-hardened. (Safety glasses are a must for this task!) A quality prick punch is very necessary.

(I had looked at other possibilities to make staking the u-joint easier. A press and large torx bit came to mind but I could find a bit large enough.)

[leathermang]

I have replaced many U Joints on cars and on farm equipment..
but the word ' staking ' has me baffled....
Do you guys call the trunk a boot....and the windshield... the windscreen ?

Are you talking about the Circlip installation ?

[75Sv1]

Originally Posted by leathermang

I have replaced many U Joints on cars and on farm equipment..
but the word ' staking ' has me baffled....
Do you guys call the trunk a boot....and the windshield... the windscreen ?

Are you talking about the Circlip installation ?

No, there is no CirClip on the installation. MB actually staked in the u-joint caps. Pip marks or with a center punch moved metal to create a protrusion of metal to retain the caps in place.