240z Steering Play

[Captain Obvious]

-Spot weld cap to yoke body.

-Fill whatever small depression exists at the cap with epoxy?

-drill and thread a hole in the side of the yoke (x 4) for a small set screw?

-put head in sand and assume these will never work their way out in your lifetime?

The mfgr's recommended retaining method is the staking. I wouldn't be surprised if that dictated other dimensions like the ID of the bore where the bearing cap get's pressed into:

Too bad the removal process is destructive to the yoke. If you could reuse the yoke, you could probably just replace the cup bearings:

That said... How to retain the similar, but slightly wider replacement? I wouldn't weld it. Not only is the yoke cast (which is trouble to weld), but you'd mess with the hardness of the cap. And I don't think epoxying the back of the cap would do much. If there's enough force to move the cap, I don't think epoxy has enough strength to hold it back.

Set screw(s) might work. Maybe grind a shallow groove in the cap first so the setscrew has a ledge on which to retain. Loctite the setscrew in place?

The ostrich approach might work as well. How much force did it take to get the caps seated in place?

Only other independent thought I have is some Loctite sleeve retainer compound. I've used that stuff for bearing and sleeve retention (duh), and it really holds. If you do it right, things aren't coming apart without heat. I don't know if the gap you have is too small though. I'm not sure what the minimum gap is. Maybe file a few shallow grooves through the ID bore so the Loctite has a larger gap in some places?

[Tomzern]

Wow, what a useful read this has been!   Thanks guys!

 

I have just placed the order for an ATV700 joint to replace my lower steering U-joint. I have the early clip style joint.

 

Here's a video of it that I shot today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qMfJfhjvFw

 

 I think a new joint might be noticable

[ericjump]

Does the large adjustment (nut and screw) on the rack where the steering shaft comes in have anything to do with removing play from the rack?

[Captain Obvious]

Not really. That big nut adjustment controls how much friction there is when sliding the rack back and forth, but doesn't really take up any play. I guess if it's completely loose the rack might be able to wobble around a tiny bit in the housing, but that nut isn't what you would consider a play-taker-upper.

[Namerow]

On 9/30/2014 at 3:23 PM, zKars said:

Truth #1. You cannot disassemble the yokes without distroying the u-joint. You can't drive the caps inward far enough to get press the opposite one out far enough to grab it to remove it.

Good thing there is enough room to cut right through the yoke legs with a 4 1/2" cut off wheel. Once the yoke center section is gone, just pound the caps through to the middle to remove them.

I'm digging up an old post, but the topic is a current one for me and I know that Z-Cars probably isn't too far away...

Jim:  You said that the spider for the steering shaft U-joint can't be removed by a straight press-out, but you made this comment in reference to the later, staked-type U-joint.  In an earlier post in this same topic, though, you'd said that you'd replaced one of the earlier-design, circlip-type U-joints and commented on what an easy job it was.  Well, my 70 Z's steering shaft has the circlip-type U-joint and I'm having the interference problem that you mentioned in reference to the staked-type U-joint.  My question:  Were you really able to press out the spider on the circlip-type U-joint, or did you have to cut that one out too?

[Mark Maras]

I've pressed the early ones out with a vice and sockets. It's pretty crowded when it's pushed together but it will come out. I like the idea of cutting out the spider first.

Edited June 11, 2017 by Mark Maras

[Namerow]

Thanks, Mark.  Based on your comments, I tried the vice-and-socket routine again and this time I was able to get one of the cups free -- from the shaft-side yoke.  But that was it, so out came the cut-off wheel (fortunately, the spider had shifted far enough to one aside to let me get the cut-off disc into the gap without damaging the inner face of the yoke).  After using the cut-off wheel, I was able to separate the shaft from the splined yoke, which made subsequent work a bit easier. 

I had to cut both legs off the spider to get it out of the splined yoke.  Even after I'd extracted the remains, there still was one cup that refused to budge more than about 1/32" in either direction.  Sixty seconds with a MAP torch got the yoke hot enough so I could tap out the cup with a punch. 

Additional comments for anyone else trying this: 

For each of the two yokes, I found that one of the two cups would not move inward (and, yes, all the retaining clips had been removed).  That meant that my press-out efforts with the vise and sockets would only work in one direction.  Even in the successful direction, there was a loud 'crack' before the cups started to move.

Instead of using an oversize socket on the exit side of each yoke, I ended up grabbing some 1x2 hardwood scrap and drilling a hole in it (11/16" drill, if you do this).  Thew wood piece could then be propped up inside the vise jaws to the right height and then sit there without needing a hand to hold it in position.  It was then much easier to juggle the combination of the other socket, the steering shaft and the vise handle while trying to get everything aligned and the vise jaws tightened down enough to hold everything in place.

I think I'm going deep-freeze the new spiders and cups and then use a torch to get some heat into the yokes before I try re-assembly with my new Kawasaki U-joint kit.  The cups look like they'll be really easy to get cocked a bit sideways at the start and I don't want to risk chewing up the bores.

[87mj]

One more comment about this from my experience. I have a low mileage '71 and a "parts car" '71.  The steering on the parts car was tight with no play in the steering shaft but the low mileage car had play even after replacing everything in the front (except for the inner tie rod ends).  I was sure it was the ujoints.  Upon closer inspection, the nut was loose on the steering wheel.  My troubleshooting skills need a little work.

[Chickenman]

The nut coming loose on the steering shaft is actually pretty common. Especially with aftermarket steering wheels and soft aluminium hubs. I secure the center Nut with Stud Lock and make sure there is a  hardened washer under the nut.