Land Rover U-joints
- Thread starter Antichrist
- Start date
Antichrist
Expedition Leader
Ah, ok. Guess you happened across an AZ that hadn't restocked with Duralast yet. All the ones around here are Duralast now.
timmy!!!!!!!
Explorer
I have a pdq joint sitting in the garag as a spare. I like the joints because of the grease zerk on the cap.
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
I get that the grease zirk on the end is a plus because you haven't drilled a big hole in the "root" of the casting, but isn't it also a risk to have the zirk knocked off by a well-place rock?
I've read that the old Spicer 5-4x was farmed out to another manufacturer and just branded as a Spicer. Any chance that it was NSK that was making it?
http://www.nskf-bearings.com/Product_number/Automotive_bearings/Cross_joint.htm
I've read that the old Spicer 5-4x was farmed out to another manufacturer and just branded as a Spicer. Any chance that it was NSK that was making it?
http://www.nskf-bearings.com/Product_number/Automotive_bearings/Cross_joint.htm
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I Leak Oil
Expedition Leader
It's a minor inconvenience to loose a zerk compared to the entire joint grenading on you. You can buy a plug to put in the hole so you don't have the zerk fitting sticking out too.
Antichrist
Expedition Leader
If you replace them with the flush style fitting as shown in the photo I posted, they barely stick out beyond the face of the yoke. Highly unlikely to knock one off.
I'm guessing that some were made by Neapco because they make the only 1300 series I've seen with the zerk in the end cap and people were saying they were getting 5-4x u-joints configured like that.
When I was told that by Spicer the guy said he couldn't really say who any given batch was made by without more research, which I didn't ask him to do.
I'm guessing that some were made by Neapco because they make the only 1300 series I've seen with the zerk in the end cap and people were saying they were getting 5-4x u-joints configured like that.
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R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Who was it you spoke to at Dana? I'm surprised he'd suggest they flip flop on suppliers batch by batch, because normally it doesn't work that way. So I wonder if he really just didn't know what he was talking about. It's also possible their "supplier" wasn't a name you'd recognize anyway. Maybe he was referring to a casting company as being their supplier?
Anyway, maybe I'll phone up some old coworkers and see if they can find out more. No promises, because chances are none of them work there anymore.
Anyway, maybe I'll phone up some old coworkers and see if they can find out more. No promises, because chances are none of them work there anymore.
Roverhound
Adventurer
If you loose a zerk on your u-joint because you hit an obstacle you've already ****ed something up. The whole loosing a zerk argument is as stupid as the "I'll keep my rotoflex because it's easy to change in the field" argument.
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R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Is your point that "you just shouldn't be hitting rocks in the first place"? Or something else. Because, I've heard the "shouldn't hit rocks" statement before when talking about diff protection.
But, unless you have ground penetrating radar, I'd love to know how people see rocks through deep mud or water.
But, unless you have ground penetrating radar, I'd love to know how people see rocks through deep mud or water.
Roverhound
Adventurer
No, what I'm saying is if you are close enough to something that it has reached all the way up to where your drive shaft is, you have more problems then just a broken zerk fitting, you've more then likely boned your driveshaft already.
Antichrist
Expedition Leader
I don't know, it's been 2 or 3 years. He didn't give a name of a supplier.
From what he said I assumed they would get bids for x number of units and sign a contract for them. When that contract ran out they'd repeat the process and potentially get them from someone else. That's all conjecture on my part, and probably moot anyway since DANA-Spicer has dropped the 5-4x from their parts list as of Feb. '08.
Surely true for the FWD unit end, but I could see a slight risk of breaking one on the diff end without doing other damage. But I agree the risk is slight.
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Ok, now I know what you're saying. Still, weird things happen to me. Last month I had a stick lying on the ground get kicked up by my front tire, spear the chain guide on my dirtbike, which is a 1/2" square target, and the other end of the stick dug in the ground, resulting in the bike doing a front flip throwing me over the bars at 30mph. :Wow1:
The odds of that chain of events was pretty incredible. Anyway, point taken.
Antichrist
Expedition Leader
Years ago I was chatting with a friend in VT when I happened to look in the passenger window of his Series Rover and saw a rather large hole in the front passenger floor. When I asked what happened he said he'd recently been out off-roading in some areas that had been recently logged and his front wheel tipped up some branches and one punched the hole.
He said the alarming part, at least for his wife, was that she was sitting in the passenger seat and the branch stopped mere inches from her.
He said the alarming part, at least for his wife, was that she was sitting in the passenger seat and the branch stopped mere inches from her.
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
So, I dicided to rebuild my rear driveshaft since I have it out. I got the rotoflex joint and the spline bellows from the UK, and ordered a Neapco 1-0005 from NAPA. This is what I got:
So which is this? Is this the Neapco? PDQ? China? I can't tell. It does say USA on it, but so does the picture Dan posted that is supposed to be made in China? The "imported by" on the box, I don't think that means it's necessarily China, I'm assuming they mean imported into Canada from (hopefully) USA?
Is this thing any good?
It's a good thing I decided to rebuild it, one of the journals on the old ones was looing really bad. I couldn't feel anything, though I was was able to feel my front shaft going before it did.
So which is this? Is this the Neapco? PDQ? China? I can't tell. It does say USA on it, but so does the picture Dan posted that is supposed to be made in China? The "imported by" on the box, I don't think that means it's necessarily China, I'm assuming they mean imported into Canada from (hopefully) USA?
Is this thing any good?
It's a good thing I decided to rebuild it, one of the journals on the old ones was looing really bad. I couldn't feel anything, though I was was able to feel my front shaft going before it did.
Antichrist
Expedition Leader
Surprising. NAPA in the US carries Precision now.
Is the zerk in an end cap?
As for Dan's post I originally quoted, he posted a photo of a non-Neapco u-joint box and a photo of a broken US made u-joint (I suppose it could have been a counterfiet u-joint made in China, but there's nothing we can do about that).
I have no way to know if the broken u-joint came from the box pictured. If it did, then it was definitely a counterfiet and can't be blamed on Neapco.
In any case, I'd take what he said with a grain of salt since he reports on other forums buying Neapco/PDQ u-joints from Advance Auto as recently as a few weeks ago.
Is the zerk in an end cap?
As for Dan's post I originally quoted, he posted a photo of a non-Neapco u-joint box and a photo of a broken US made u-joint (I suppose it could have been a counterfiet u-joint made in China, but there's nothing we can do about that).
I have no way to know if the broken u-joint came from the box pictured. If it did, then it was definitely a counterfiet and can't be blamed on Neapco.
In any case, I'd take what he said with a grain of salt since he reports on other forums buying Neapco/PDQ u-joints from Advance Auto as recently as a few weeks ago.