1935 Dictator Universal Joints

[Spinneyhill]

The universal joints in my friend's Dictator are pretty loose. He has to fix them to obtain a Warrant of Fitness (i.e. pass the safety inspection).

 

I haven't found a source of parts. What are people doing to repair them? I am hoping we can short circuit the process to come up with a cost-effective repair.

 

Twenty years ago I looked for needle bearings for my 1939 Overdrive; they were not available, other than as a full complement caged set. The needles are shorter in a cage than without, meaning less support in the joint.

[Gary_Ash]

First, he needs to figure out if he has a Mechanics or Spicer type U-joints, depends if car is U.S. or Canada built.  With luck, he'll have a Canadian car with Spicer-type and then a common 1310 U-joint can be used.  See attached image from parts book for 1A/2A cars for 1935 Dictator.  From 1936-66, nearly all Studebaker cars used the 1310 joint with snap rings on the outside ends of the bearing caps.  I see these on-line as cheap as US $8-$12, even with greaseable crosses.

 

If he has the Mechanics or "wing" style U-joint, he can probably still find the parts easily.  See this:  http://www.randysdriveshaft.com/mechanics.html

See attached photo of a Moog 994 Mechanics joint (wing) in size 2C.  The caps bolt to the flanges on rear axle and transmission.  Many types of caps.

 

Here's the NEAPCO catalog that can be used to figure out which size/type he has:  http://neapcocomponents.com/images/catalogs/9901018.pdf

Edited December 16, 2017 by Gary_Ash (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

If he has universals like mine were on my 38  - good luck. I checked every possible source and came up blank. 

Dave S 

[Spinneyhill]

2 hours ago, SC38DLS said:

If he has universals like mine were on my 38

Arrr. Now I see, looking at the parts book. You have Type C joints. Mine are Type D (1939 L5) and the Dictator has type B. Having Type C joints was a bit of bad luck!

 

I should have looked sooner! My memory of the shop manual was wrong and I assumed the worst.

 

Thank you all for responding.

[SC38dls]

Type c are really amazing. Rubber with layers of wire screening inside. The rubber got hard and cracked so the bolts were loose. Doing about 30 miles an hour when mine got that way was a little nerve racking. Luckily I was only a few blocks from home and nursed it home. 

Dave S