Original angle drive finally gave out; looking for tips

[opethmike]

Amazed it lasted for ~33k miles. Going to be ordering a new angle drive tomorrow. Just looking for any tips or advice for when I do the job.

[opethmike]

Anyone?

[stevedmc]

I'm happy with my Hervey unit.

[opethmike]

Thanks Steve :) Though, I meant more in the way of tech advice; like any unexpected gotchas I might run into changing the unit, or if it really is just a simple unbolt, change, re-bolt job?

[DMCMW Dave]

Thanks Steve :) Though, I meant more in the way of tech advice; like any unexpected gotchas I might run into changing the unit, or if it really is just a simple unbolt, change, re-bolt job?

Loosen the big nut on the outside end of the spindle (32 or 36MM, no consistent VIN relationship).

Disconnect the cable.

Loosen and remove the large nut that holds in in place on the inside end of the spindle. 1-1/4" open end wrench, and it's torqued to 120ft-lb (usually, although we find them pretty loose once in a while).

Remove the nut from the old angle drive. This is tricky, unless you just clamp the nut in a vice and break it off with a hammer.

Put the new one on the nut. There is a retainer clip that you put on the drive FIRST and then guide it through the nut, when in all the way it will expand and lock the drive to the nut.

Reinstall the nut, feeding the drive cable through the spindle, and torque it as tight as you can.

Retighten the nut on the outside. Also as tight as you can get it. Specs in the manual.

Reconnect the cable and reinstall the plastic cap. (generally, install a new one of each).

Instructions will come with the drive kit.

[JIMJAM]

After 3 failed attempts to solve angle drive failures, some lasting 50 miles or less I gave up and went gps/hud.

Bored and hard headed, I attempted again but this time with John's angle drive and 1 piece cable. which eliminates alot of nonsense.

Knock on HUGE plank of wood but 3 months later its still working.:tongue_stick:
Its reading 5- 10 mph faster than both my gps and gps/heads up display but its good to see that needle moving again after 3 years.

[stevedmc]

For what it's worth my car was built August of 82 and I used a 36mm socket to loosen the axle nut.

[outatym2001]

Try this thread. Read everything. My post is number 22. Then keep on reading…

How do you remove the angle drive?
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?2230-How-do-you-remove-the-angle-drive

[DeMopar]

Spray Kroil or similar penetrating oil on spindle nut every week for about two or three months before you jack the car up to change angle drive. Once that's done and you have safely blocked car up, remove left front tire and turn wheel all the way to the left. Then check with your local zoo and see if they will let you borrow a 500 pound gorilla to stand on a 1 1/4 open end wrench with breaker pipe to break nut free. If gorilla is not available, go to local gym and locate bodybuilder instead. :strongman: If unable to find bodybuilder, you might have to torque on wrench yourself so check local scrapyard for an even longer 4-5 foot long iron pipe to use as breaker pipe for wrench. Then, watch in amazement as the left front suspension of your car is twisted beyond belief WITHOUT the nut budging! It will make you say "I think I bent my car" or "Are control arms supposed to twist that much?" :biggrin:

That may be a little embellished, but when I changed mine a few years ago I could not get my spindle nut loose. I believe it was the original. Well anyway, after trying everything I had at my disposal I quit trying to loosen the nut because I didn't want to break anything. Warren at DMCH told me that sometimes, and only if you are lucky, that you can pop the angle drive out by prying between the spindle nut and the angle drive with a large screwdriver. Well I must have been lucky that day because that's how I did it! The retaining ring stayed behind and I removed it afterwards and replaced it. The new angle drives from Houston have a flexible shaft, so it went right back in and I was in business! Going on three years I believe. Not a whole lot of miles, but still working great!

Hope this helps...

[Conundrum]

No recommendations on an angle drive from anyone? No reviews? I'm thinking of going to the longer cable to eliminate the service counter. No point in having it there. I know when to work on the car by looking at the odometer just like my other two cars.

[dmc6960]

No recommendations on an angle drive from anyone? No reviews? I'm thinking of going to the longer cable to eliminate the service counter. No point in having it there. I know when to work on the car by looking at the odometer just like my other two cars.

This doesn't do you any good in there here and now, but in about a year I should have an all-electronic solution available.

I had one of the recent DMCH angle drives fail under warranty in 2010, got a replacement. However then a while later my LAMBDA counter started having problems, so I got the 1-piece cable from Grady. However there was a problem with that one where there was too much thick grease in it and it caused more problems. I've been consistently without a speedometer for a few years now. I'm keeping it broken as motivation to get the new system done.

[Conundrum]

I'd be interested in an all electronic speedometer system.

As of right now though, I want something. The last DMCH angle drive I had lasted a little over a year I beleive. Right before it failed, I was hearing some weird whining/gear spinning noises from the area of the Lambda counter. I'm not sure if it was the counter itself, or I was hearing the angle drive through the floor. After thinking about it, I'm going to the longer cable.

[lkn4ubl]

Replaced mine yesterday. Easy job, except the part about getting the nut off the old angle drive. I highly recommend using a dremel tool with a cutting disk and cut the old angle drive where it meets the nut and pushing the cut end out. Once I did that, 2 minutes worth of work. I tried everything else for an hour to no avail.

[Bikercmbc]

I also replaced mine this weekend. easiest thing to do is loosen everything like dave said to do, then i also loosened and took the tie rod end out of the spindle, gives you alot more room to work. Next thing to make it easier is get a flat screw driver and hammer and knock the old on out of the retaining nut before trying to loosen. after that you can use a breaker bar and 27mm socket and the nut comes off real easy. reassemble like dave said also