Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Pretty certain I know but asking anyway

Replacing both u-joints on my 39. The new u-joints have a thin piece of metal strapping tack welded to both caps in both axis of the cross. Appears to me as they are excessive insurance to keep caps on u-joint during handling. One strap on each u-joint needs to be removed for clearance. Caps are held firmly in place after assembly by bolts and the drive saddles

U joints I pulled off appear to have have remnants of what appears to be these straps but the rear u-joint had one strap in tact on one cap but was broken off the other cap

My '37 had them as well. I can't remember if my replacement had them however.

My 1939 and 1940s had them too and I recently saw an automotive hardware site that sells them. Once I find it again, I'll post.

I ended up cutting the straps off of 1 side as the straps interfered with a large nut on the end of the rear end saddle and on the transmission end

The straps are quite thin,only tack welded and snipped very easily. Studying the mounting of the ujoint in their respective saddles, I do not see a purpose for the straps except to possibly keep end caps in place during handling

I agree, John - I think they're just to keep the caps on, so the needle bearings don't 'get away' and end up all over the place. When I put my drive shaft back in, I had quite a time getting the U-joint in place, with the caps on, and then positioning the saddles so as to be able to get the nuts started. There are no grease zerks on my U-joints, (any on yours?) which I found odd, so I loaded up the cups with chassis grease and that HELPED keep the caps in place but wasn't 'goof-proof'. A couple of times, I had caps fall off and sometimes the needle bearings did some moving around, even came out. Not a fun task, crawling around on the floor by one's self - that's for sure. Car on a hoist with 2 guys, it would be pretty easy, but how many of us have THAT luxury?!?! Chris.

Yes, replacement u-joints have zerk fittings.

I do have the luxury of a lift, the QuickJack. I use them only on occasion as I do not care for the forward (or reverse) movement of the car as the lift picks up the car. This is inherent in the design and unless you really pay attention and be certain car is out of gear, can cause problems! Other issue I contend with using this with my Packard, the Packard frame rails are surprising close together. By the time you get the lifts under the rails, not a heck of a lot of room between them to do any work.

Pretty well done with "have to do's" on the car, now just making her look better. New carpet once I find some, ideally a seat upholstery kit (no luck yet) and exterior, adding proper Fog light brackets and hopefully, a really nice set of OEM lights. Turns out mine are aftermarket and although in great shape and even have the Packard script stamped, no where near the appearance of the original Packard ones

John, I'd be interested to know more about those 'Packard OEM fog lights'. I didn't realize Packard actually made a version of them. I thought it was all just aftermarket outfits like Trippe and Unity, etc.??? Any pictures?? Chris.

Here are some pics I got from Max Merritt. They don't have them in stock anymore

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Hey John, I put these on my car, Packard branded, and they look good. Nice quality chrome, good visibility, and quite easy to find online. I think I paid a couple hundred bucks for these, including brackets and period-authentic switch. Chris.

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