Steering shaft U-joints serviceable?

[sdg3205]

Can the two u-joints (upper and lower) in the steering shaft to the rack be dismantled, cleaned and reassembled?

My lower U-joint has good movement, but the upper U-joint assembly (where the column meets the firewall) is quite stiff. Is this normal or should it be fairly easy to articulate as well?

Right now I'm bathing it in an acetone/ATF bath.

[David T]

Can the two u-joints (upper and lower) in the steering shaft to the rack be dismantled, cleaned and reassembled?

My lower U-joint has good movement, but the upper U-joint assembly (where the column meets the firewall) is quite stiff. Is this normal or should it be fairly easy to articulate as well?

Right now I'm bathing it in an acetone/ATF bath.

Non-serviceable. It may be possible to drill a hole and insert a grease fitting. Otherwise you replace the whole assembly (both U-joints).

[content22207_2]

Houston is showing OEM U Joints as NLA. At this time Borgeson appears to be the go to stateside option (Houston, Toby, and Josh all sell Borgeson units). At one time Martin Gutkowski was offering a European sourced option -- don't know if that's still available.

Not a dire situation at all -- Borgeson has been in business for more than a hundred years. You can save about $150 buying from Borgeson direct, but vendors depend upon markup for their profit so an argument can be made for buying from them to keep them in business.

If you want to add vibration isolation to your column then your only option is to buy from Borgeson direct -- none of the vendors offer vibration reducing U Joints.

Borgeson components are beefier than OEM. Side by side comparison (vibration reducing U Joint on the left end of the lower column):

45659

Bill Robertson
#5939

[sdg3205]

I was thinking of trying a solvent tank and a healthy dose of lubricant. If that doesn't work I'll just have to suck it up. I'm paying daycare now with is an additional $1,250 a month so there's no room in the budget for Delorean parts at the moment!

Cheers and thanks for the tips

[DMCMW Dave]

I was thinking of trying a solvent tank and a healthy dose of lubricant. If that doesn't work I'll just have to suck it up. I'm paying daycare now with is an additional $1,250 a month so there's no room in the budget for Delorean parts at the moment!

Cheers and thanks for the tips

I've brought them back to life by doing what you are doing. Soak in solvent a long time, then some heavy oil. They are intended to be greased but there isn't a good way to re-grease them, and at this point the seals are gone. If you get them freed up and oiled, they will actually work for quite a while IF you never drive the car in the rain (hard to do where you live I bet). You can re-oil on the car (motor oil) but it gets all over the place. The oil will wash out remarkably quickly. But - it might get you by for a while.

[content22207_2]

I have two complete OEM shafts swapped out for Borgeson units -- what is their used market value?

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Elvis]

I once posted a great replacement ...


2 U-Joints of an old Ford Fiesta and a ~30cm hex-bar - I forgot the details, but they are here in the forum somewhere.


complete solution costs probably less than $50 and works in many cars so far over here.

[Patrick C]

Borgeson components are beefier than OEM. Side by side comparison (vibration reducing U Joint on the left end of the lower column):

45659

Bill Robertson
#5939

I have what Bill has, only my Borgeson shaft has splines (not hexed like as shown in this photo.) Either will work as long as you have the correct u-joints for the shaft.

[todd1561]

I was thinking of trying a solvent tank and a healthy dose of lubricant. If that doesn't work I'll just have to suck it up. I'm paying daycare now with is an additional $1,250 a month so there's no room in the budget for Delorean parts at the moment!

Cheers and thanks for the tips

Wish I had your daycare nearby, I'm paying $1,500! As for your joint, I bought a set from Martin in the UK, with the drop of the Pound it may be a good time to pick one up. http://delorean.co.uk/parts.html Martin was great to deal with. I still haven't had a chance to install the part but it looks very stout.

79£/$104/136 CAD.

[Elvis]

That was exactly what I posted some years ago - Martin understood it

[MikeWard]

The lower joint is readily available (in the UK at least), it cross references to a Rover SD1, part number CRC2481

http://www.deloreanclub.uk/steering-lower-universal-joint.html

The upper steering rack is also available via the club, I would guess Ed has a stock of these: http://www.deloreanclub.uk/upper-steering-shaft.html

[sdg3205]

The solvent bath didn't work. If anything it's a little worse. I liked it up and reinstalled it anyway.

Have oil in the steering rack has made a noticeable difference though!

[PJ Grady Inc.]

Houston is showing OEM U Joints as NLA. At this time Borgeson appears to be the go to stateside option (Houston, Toby, and Josh all sell Borgeson units). At one time Martin Gutkowski was offering a European sourced option -- don't know if that's still available.

Not a dire situation at all -- Borgeson has been in business for more than a hundred years. You can save about $150 buying from Borgeson direct, but vendors depend upon markup for their profit so an argument can be made for buying from them to keep them in business.

If you want to add vibration isolation to your column then your only option is to buy from Borgeson direct -- none of the vendors offer vibration reducing U Joints.

Borgeson components are beefier than OEM. Side by side comparison (vibration reducing U Joint on the left end of the lower column):

45659

Bill Robertson
#5939
We offer the vibration reducing joint as well as the standard unit.
Rob

[PJ Grady Inc.]

The solvent bath didn't work. If anything it's a little worse. I liked it up and reinstalled it anyway.

Have oil in the steering rack has made a noticeable difference though!

We usually clean notchy, or not, u-joints in a solvent tank followed by a compressed air dry down and a long bath in heated 90 wt Gear oil. We use a hot plate to get the oil up to temperature. You could try that before giving up on them. This also extends the life of a good u-joint so it's best to do it when you are changing the rack and pinion as cheap insurance for notch free steering.
Rob