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Good Morning all...

I am going to change the Universal Joints on our 1949 288 Deluxe, as the drive shaft is rotating 1/4 to 1/2 inch when I twist it with both hands. The car makes a click, click, click sound driving along at slow speed. We have examined the brakes and they are not at fault. I have studied the Service Manual, pages 30 to 36 regarding this repair. I'm wondering if anyone has made this repair recently and might have additional advice to offer. Thanks, Ernie

I just replaced my 47 Custom joints with Kanters repros. A perfect fit and didn't have any real issues aside from a slight disagreement with the manual on semantics or terms. Not sure if yours has the same shaft and ujoints but the procedure for all is covered in that Chassis section of 46-50 SM.

The only things I can add to the procedure is if you have the two piece shaft, find the arrows they refer to & if one of yours was covered with rust as mine was, take note of positioning and mark alignment if you are going to separate the two pieces. That way you won't have to ask questions or refer back to previous posts.

The semantic dispute come when the SM says to remove the retainer clips and then "tap" the retainers out of the yoke. I am not sure if "tap" is the procedure when new, was wishful thinking, or was a word the tech writer used when he meant really heavy blows with a big sledge hammer. Mine required the use of a press to make the old ones even budge when coming out. They do mention driving the new ones in with a press or a hammer. Mine took the press.

First, make sure the rotational "free play" you're feeling is in the universals themselves and not backlash in the ring and pinion and free play in the axle shaft spine ends. Some play in the differential gear set and shaft splines in normal.

Good afternoon all...

We have checked out 'Miss Prudence's' Rear-End and determined that it is fine. Today Alex Alfaro and I removed the drive shaft and removed and replaced the Universal Joints. Today was the first time in the almost two years that we have owned 'Miss Prudence' that she has driven down the road absolutely quietly, like a good Packard should.

We are now looking into Radial Tires. Our normal Tire Shop is recommending Cooper P235/70R15/SL Cobra Radial G/T Tires. We wonder what other members might have used on 23rd Series Packards. 'Prudence' is a model 2362.

Thanks, Ernie

I put radials on my '50 Custom. I am very happy with them. I purchased them from Diamond Back (they have 3 1/2 inch whitewalls). They weren't cheap.
Radial tires do (in my experience) improve handling at speed. On the other hand...

Steering when the car is not at speed is more difficult.
They don't look exactly correct. I understand that there is a new profile available that mimics the old bias-ply more closely. I haven't personally seen it.
Make sure the tires being offered don't have raised white lettering. That would look terrible (just my opinion). These cars look very nice with plain black walls.
I am not into having my cars judged so I'm not sure, but I believe there is a penalty for radials if that means anything to you.
You may find the radial tire to be a very tight fit in the trunk spare tire well assuming you are getting all 5 tires.

Glad the universal job went well.

I would very definitely NOT go with the recommendation of your tire shop as to size. You want a "75" profile to approximate the original ride height and profile, and maintain a reasonably accurate speedometer. Don't go with a "70" series. And I suspect 235 will be too wide, you'll probably have trouble both mounting and dismounting them at the rear and may have some scuffing in the front on full turns.

Your car came originally with 7.60 x 15 so a suitable radial replacement size would be a 225/75R15.

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Thanks, JD and Owen...

I'll check out the tires you recommend. Also, now still on the fence regarding Radial Tires. I'll most likely drive between one and two thousand miles a year.
In the Arizona Desert, we only run the old classics in the early morning and late evening from June to October.

Ernie

I saw a set of radial Whitewalls on Craigslist this morning in Gilberthttp://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/pts/4496622922.html