Wanted -- 66 Buick Rear CV Joint

[jrbartlett]

Need usable constant velocity (CV) joint that goes at the rear of the driveshaft on a '66 Buick Riviera, LeSabre, Wildcat or Electra 225. Repair shop lost mine. The round ball incorporated in the joint must be good. Please contact James Bartlett, jamesandeileen@comcast.net. Thanks.

[Smartin]

You probably already know this, but you’ll likely have to find good used.  I had my 62 driveshaft remade without that joint.  
 

There are aftermarket options available if you want to have the shaft completely redone…

[JohnD1956]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:40 AM, Smartin said:

 I had my 62 driveshaft remade without that joint.  

Hey Adam, this interests me. What was substituted and how did it drive afterwards?  

[NTX5467]

For some reason, GM seemed to be on "a kick" to use two-piece driveshafts on everything they built in the 1960s.  From pickup trucks to all of their larger passenger vehicles.  While Ford and Chrysler did otherwise.

 

In one respect, there had to have been some cost savings OR a valid engineering reason to justify the additional costs (in production and in later lives of the vehicles).  Or might it have been related to the use of X-frames?  Yet no X-frames on their light-duty truck platform.

 

The center "double joints" were supposed to be about smoothness, as I recall, but in an otherwise smoooth body-on-frame vehicle which was already smoooooth by design?  Which gets back to "Must have been chasing some harmonics . . ." situation.   Seems like the new-for-1973 pickup trucks originally had two-piece shafts in them, which were later changed to single-piece shafts under warranty?

 

Some of the 1990s Camaro V-6s used a two-piece driveshaft, but the center joint was similar to the outer bearing on a fwd driveshaft, as I recall.  Must have been chasing some harmonic which was not there on the V-8 cars?

 

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[Smartin]

14 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

Hey Adam, this interests me. What was substituted and how did it drive afterwards?  

Seemed fine...they just replaced it with a standard 2 piece shaft with u joints at the center and end.

[JohnD1956]

There wasn't a carrier bearing in the middle for the cv joint?

[Smartin]

The bearing is independent of the double joint.  Here is some close up stuff on my 62...the new custom shaft I had made just eliminated the double cardan joint.  So the front half of the driveshaft has the carrier bearing on it, and then after it, there is a yoke with a ujoint....then the second half of the shaft.  I looked for photos and couldn't find any.  This car defeated me in so many ways, I just wanted it gone.

 

 

[JohnD1956]

@Smartin  These full sized Buick driveshafts are scary. The Queen has one of those joints just in front of the pinion.  I am not having issues now but was interested to see if a single u joint would suffice.   

[Smartin]

Yeah I remember my 71’s all had that joint.  Never had a problem with them though…until the cursed 62 I bought.