Driveshaft U-Joint

[pbonsalb]

I have a friend with a shop who has done some. He says it is a pain in the rear and you have to use a lot of heat to get the old one out. Could make a difference that we are in NH where rust makes it harder to take things apart.

[JimsR]

Anyone know the correct part # for the u joint? The part # provided here previously was said to be an inferior product in the video. Is there a heavy duty version someone has had success with?

[Floxer]

you mean bmw part number? why do you think that part number exists when the u joint isn't sold separately

[JimsR]

No, not oem.

[JimsR]

What part is Butters using?

[pbonsalb]

I can’t remember now. I may see him in the next week and will ask. There is an older thread on the subject (not from Butters) and I think there are PN but you’d have to do some searching.

[Ghost129er]

I believe it was the following part number:

PN: 26111105398 (Repair kit swivcl joint)
Superseded by PN: Repair kit swivcl joint (Repair kit swivcl joint [N])

I remember something about it needing to specifically be an E30 one if I'm not mistaken according to my sources around the world who've given feedback on this repair - do note, that it /can/ be done but there will always be a slight vibration of sorts at a certain speed; best bet is to get a driveshaft shop to do it; or do 50% and let them do the last 50% and balancing/etc, but that's just my 2 cents.

[pbonsalb]

I did not know there was a BMW part. Butters does it with an aftermarket part that is greaseable and heavier duty. He said the quarter trick with tack weld works great. The driveshaft speciality shops machine a ring for a circlip, which is probably better long term for servicing.

[JimsR]

; best bet is to get a driveshaft shop to do it; or do 50% and let them do the last 50% and balancing/etc, but that's just my 2 cents.

^^^Yeah, that is the plan, just want to change out the U joint with a universal part then shop can balance it. All the driveshafts I find these days need to be rebuilt and new ones way too expensive.

[XnWarden]

The shop you take it to for rebuild can measure it and find a u joint to fit. I can look at work if you give me some measurements. Since there's not much info on these, it'll be a game of mix and match. It may take a few tries to find one you can adapt to your purpose.

I'll need the bearing cap diameters, and the width from end to end of the yoke. These measurements gotta be accurate to within a few hundredths of an inch, so use a good digital caliper. Normally you have to worry about internal or external snap ring styles, but these are staked joints so it doesnt matter much I don't believe.

Most aftermarket shafts for these cars use like a spicer 1350 u joint.

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[fab4272]

I recently had mine done by a driveshaft shop. Took the entire shaft assy in, they replaced the rear uni joint only with a compatible uni joint, as it exhibited some binding. Also rebalanced the 2 shafts as well. The uni joint was spot welded into position AFTER the balance was confirmed correct.

Re-installed with a new centre bearing and flex disk, no more vibration no matter how hard I accelerate now.

I wouldn't mess around with doing it yourself, get a proper mechanic who has the equipment, especially the balancing side of it.

[mndr0115]

This makes sense that the E30 U Joint would be the part as I've got both shafts and it looks very very similar, further I plan on using the e36 shaft on my E30 diff, if it fits well onto the flange it would be safe to assume similar dimensions for the ujoint... Do you know for certain though if this is the part used? Can we verify? I've done a lot of searching and plan on rebuilding the E36 Rear shaft I just got that happens to have a notchy rear u-joint.

As far as all of the people concerned with the balance, my experience is that when you have two halves of a shaft that can be removed and paired together they are usually independently balanced. All the issues arise when people take apart a shaft and then return it to service without paying attention to phasing(which actually isn't possible to do on an E36 as both ujoints are on solid shaft, very easy to make this mistake on a E30 driveshaft however). Nobody in industry rebalances a driveshaft after replacing a u joint alone. It's simply not standard practice, people telling you otherwise are taking your naive ass for a ride.

Back to the point... I'd like to use the OEM Style U joint, SOLID as it's so small. Will this work (https://www.ecstuning.com/b-mtc-part...111105398~mtc/) IF so its a simple burn, cut, push it out, re-install and stake into place operation...

These shafts are far too expensive for one bum u-joint.

[mndr0115]

So incase someone comes to this thread now or 15 years from now... Spoke to someone at ECS Tuning and they verified the following "yea technically bmw doesnt have a replacmeent part # for e36 they want you to buy complete drive shaft for it but weve seen people use 26117518304 / es3038940 FOR E36 AND E46"

Further there's another post referencing Power train Industries 2751-24

When I get around to doing this in the summer I'll update with what parts I used.