u joint

[nick]

ordered new u joint for back of drive shaft(rearend side) from what i can tell it is the style of a 56, well the side that goes to the rear end is the same but the side that goes to the drive shaft is to small(outside dia) and the clips are different also.  please help, what am i missing here?  thanks  nick

[hiball3985]

That type of U joint was used on several different cars made by different car company's in the 40-50's, are you sure you got one for a 57? Are you sure you have a 57 drive shaft, is it tapered?

[RICH MUISE]

Nick...I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, because I don't know what you're working on. Is your car a driver that is just needing a new u-joint, or are you assembling a drivetrain on a project car, posibly with components from other cars?
Let me tell you what I found out about u-joints when I put a MarkViii aluminum driveshaft in my '57 with a stock differential....because of off roading, and hotrodding, the local stores can usually get you fixed up with what you need off the shelf.  The joint itself only has a few variations on the length of each leg, let's call them A, B,and C for arguements sake. Most needlebearings on those legs will be the same diameter(not the cap's od, but the bearing size).The joint you need may be a combination of A-A, A-C, or whatever. The next common variation will be the end caps. Those variations are more plentiful as there are styles that are held in with internal circle clips at the ends Groove in the yoke), some with external clip grooves (in the ujoint caps), some (like the '57 differentials) that nest between stops and are held in with ubolts. Whatever the cap style and outer diameter, the inner bearing diameter is the same ...interchangeable caps from one u-joint to another.
Combining the length variation with the cap variations results in a bunch of posibilities. Your parts house should have charts showing the length and cap of each leg, and another chart which will give them a whole new number with the proper combination.
Because I was anxious to fir mine, I bought two ujoints so I could get the needed caps for one of the legs. I could have waited for the specific ass'y number I needed.
Anyway...what I'm saying is get the particulars on each leg of the joint you need and head off to O'Reill'y, they should be of help.

[hiball3985]

Rich, JFYI a stock 57 rear end doesn't use U bolts to hold the U joint.. They are a totally different animal that used bolts that come from the rear of the pinion flange and thread into the U joint caps.

[Ford Blue blood]

My Ranchero has "U" bolts, the Ranchwagon had the bolt type caps and the Retractable has "U" bolts as well.  Both the Ranchwagon (3:89) and the Ranchero (3:56) were San Diego cars and Retractable is a Louisville car.

[hiball3985]

Strange, my Ranchero had the bolt type and so did the previous two I owned???. I have since switched to the U joint type later rear end and a different drive shaft when I installed the T85 trans.

[canadian_ranchero]

my u-joint parts book lists both types for 1957

[hiball3985]

I guess until the original poster tells us what he has we can't be much help. I'm just assuming it is the bolt in kind since he said it was similar to a 56..

[RICH MUISE]

Well, he's done 20 post in 8 years...may be a while.

[nick]

hello thanks for all the input,  talked to my dad who started the build some years back, said he had the driveshaft made and the shaft is all one size, now the rear end side does match the 56 not sure what the driveshaft side matches, did go to a local parts store today(not a chain store but one that been here fo 50 years) he got all his books out so hopfully he can help me out.  nick

[nick]

well didnt have any luck at first parts store, went to napa found a good parts number but said they quit makin it, so took that number to o'reilys, looked it up showed us a picture said it would be in tuesday, we'll find out then.

[RICH MUISE]

Good luck! 3 stores ain't half bad when it comes to finding stuff for these old jalopies....lol I went to three today and ended up coming home and ordering on line...and all I wanted was some 90* battery cable lugs.

[rmk57]

http://www.driveshaftspecialist.com/HTML%20Measure/UJ%20ID%20Guide.html

Here's a helpful link to sizing u-joints. Basically  there are only two cup diameters for our 57's.

[hiball3985]

If I understand correctly he is trying to mate this type of rear u joint for the tapered drive shaft to a new drive shaft that uses a different cap on the driveshaft side..

[Ford Blue blood]

Here ya go.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400820673018?item=400820673018&viewitem=&vxp=mtr#ht_112wt_917