Re: Driveshaft Repair

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2013/3/27 13:40:31

With Ultramatic your front universal joint is a "ball and trunnion" type, a type also used by Chrysler for decades and in a few cases they are interchangeable. It serves both as a universal joint and a slip yoke to accomodate fore-and-aft movement. They are usually long-lived if they were dropped, cleaned and repacked regularly which all too often failed to happen as these cars entered the era of maintenance neglect. Rebuild kits for these were standard service items with new end caps, balls, needle bearings and pins; the kits for the junior series cars are still easy enough to find, but the kit for the seniors (and I think the 300 uses that joint - someone with a part list open please correct me if I'm wrong - can perhaps be found though they are certainly approaching extinction. Installing the kit parts is very simple and direct, doesn't require any special skill but will require a hydraulic press to remove/replace the pin. I'd think any driveshaft shop would find this pretty basic work. But if the housing itself has wear where the balls ride, the rebuild kit won't solve the problem and totally new joints have pretty much gone the way of the carrier pidgeon. So if the housing is worn beyond use and you can't find a new joint, a good driveshaft shop should be able to adapt a Mechanics-type joint with a splined slip yoke. I don't have a recommendation for a shop in your area but I'd start visiting ones that specialize in truck work and tell them you have a "ball & trunnion" joint - if they give you a blank stare on their face, move on to the next one.