crossover steering and U joints

i have a 78 chevy 3/4 ton with a 10'' lift 39.5 boggers and a healthy
454. i was wondering who makes a crossover steering kit for Dana 60. my
other question is why do i keep going through u-joints the pitch doesnt
seem bad, i grease it regularly but it doesnt matter. ive been told i
have to much power but i dont break them they just wear out. Could it be
im tighting the u joints straps to tight and egging the cups out? any
input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Joey

Approximately 11/5/03 18:23, Joey Kelly uttered for posterity:

> i have a 78 chevy 3/4 ton with a 10'' lift 39.5 boggers and a healthy
> 454. i was wondering who makes a crossover steering kit for Dana 60. my
> other question is why do i keep going through u-joints the pitch doesnt
> seem bad, i grease it regularly but it doesnt matter. ive been told i
> have to much power but i dont break them they just wear out. Could it be
> im tighting the u joints straps to tight and egging the cups out? any
> input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Joey

Your original post was impossible to read. You posted white
text on a black background.

Worse you posted in HTML.

Don't post pictures. This is not a chatboard, it is a non-picture
newsgroup. Besides, your pictures didn't post anyway.

Don't post horizontal lines. Those require HTML.

Don't change character font size or color or use bold or italic.
Those all require HTML.

Dunno about your crossover steering, but with that 454, you
put a lot of stress on the U-Joints. I used to have a 427 where
I changed the U-Joints just about every other oil change until
I got tired of this and replaced them with aftermarket high
performance units that had better seals for their bearings
and better lube. They still wore out fairly often, but at
least they lasted a bit longer. And yes, you could be
overtightening the U bolts. Another thing that wears them
out is the slight misalignment you can get by trying to change
them with a vise [or worse a hammer]. I finally got a small
press to use, and even then it was necessary to clean their
seating surfaces extremely carefully. The slightest misalignment
with all that torque and you can kiss them bye bye.


--
My governor can kick your governor's ass

>i have a 78 chevy 3/4 ton with a 10'' lift 39.5 boggers and a healthy
>454. i was wondering who makes a crossover steering kit for Dana 60. my
>other question is why do i keep going through u-joints the pitch doesnt
>seem bad, i grease it regularly but it doesnt matter. ive been told i
>have to much power but i dont break them they just wear out. Could it be
>im tighting the u joints straps to tight and egging the cups out? any
>input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Joey


i just have a comment on the u joints, i have had similar problems in the past
with a few trail rigs of mine, my solution was to switch brands of u joints,
they are not all created equal, i always specified dana spicer u joints, none
of that beck arnley crap or anything else for that matter, so check out what
brand your using for starters and switch to dana spicer if your not already,
and in your case your vehicle is way more heavy duty than the toyotas and such
i drove on the trail so top quality u joints are a must! oh check the part
listings, there are light vehicle and heavy vehicle listings, if your just
getting stock replacement u joints they most likely just aint cutting it!







79 T/A WS6 455 ,Hurst 4 spd, Blk w/ t-tops, Heavily Fortified, 4mpg

00 Ram 2500HD QC V-10 4x4,Blk,5 spd,4:10 LSD, 10mpg

98 Intruder 1400, Blk, 5 spd, 25mpg

Joey Kelly wrote:
>
> i have a 78 chevy 3/4 ton with a 10'' lift 39.5 boggers and a healthy
> 454. i was wondering who makes a crossover steering kit for Dana 60.

I modified a kit to fit on my hybrid D60 front axle:
http://4crawler.cruiserpages.com/4x4/CheapTricks/AxleTech/index.shtml#HySteer

You might contact Scott @ Rockstomper and see what he has:
http://www.rockstomper.com/catalog/products.html

> my
> other question is why do i keep going through u-joints the pitch doesnt
> seem bad, i grease it regularly but it doesnt matter. ive been told i
> have to much power but i dont break them they just wear out. Could it be
> im tighting the u joints straps to tight and egging the cups out? any
> input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Joey

You may have a bent/damage end on one of the u-joints, was ona trail run once with a Jeep w/ D60 rear axle and on this trail he broke 3 rear u-joints in about as many miles. Turns out a year or so before he had one break and the part on the pinion must
have hit on some rocks and was slightly bent. After that he had repeated failures because of this and finally had the damaged part replaced and no longer had any issues.

--
Roger

> i have a 78 chevy 3/4 ton with a 10'' lift 39.5 boggers and a healthy
> 454. i was wondering who makes a crossover steering kit for Dana\
> 60.

Check with the guys at Off Road Unlimited....
http://www.offroadunlimited.com/

> my other question is why do i keep going through u-joints the pitch
> doesnt seem bad, i grease it regularly but it doesnt matter. ive been
> told i have to much power but i dont break them they just wear out.
> Could it be im tighting the u joints straps to tight and egging the cups
> out?

the large engine and large tires put a lot more strain on the u-joints.
Especially if you're running stock joints and stock gears in the axles.
Also, check the driveline angles to make sure that the u-joints are
operating within their design limits. Remember to account for axle
wrap......

Mike

Approximately 11/6/03 15:50, Mike Borkhuis uttered for posterity:

>> i have a 78 chevy 3/4 ton with a 10'' lift 39.5 boggers and a healthy
>> 454. i was wondering who makes a crossover steering kit for Dana\
>> 60.
>
> Check with the guys at Off Road Unlimited....
> http://www.offroadunlimited.com/
>
>> my other question is why do i keep going through u-joints the pitch
>> doesnt seem bad, i grease it regularly but it doesnt matter. ive been
>> told i have to much power but i dont break them they just wear out.
>> Could it be im tighting the u joints straps to tight and egging the cups
>> out?
>
> the large engine and large tires put a lot more strain on the u-joints.
> Especially if you're running stock joints and stock gears in the axles.
> Also, check the driveline angles to make sure that the u-joints are
> operating within their design limits. Remember to account for axle
> wrap......

Very important with the torque of the 454 is to make absolutely
certain that the operating angle of the front and rear u-joints
is exactly the same, otherwise the drive shaft may develop a
slight resonance at different speeds. IMNHO GM has never made
a U-Joint worth the powder it would take to blow it to hell, and
pretty much anything makes them even more worthless.

Y'all may also want to check out some of these thingies. They
can take a bit more abuse than the standard GM U-Joints.

<http://ultimate4wheeldriveperformance.com/axles.htm>

There are also some that used to be used in drag racing, mostly
on the old Impala and El Camino SS427 and SS454 models...for the
same reason--the GM ones were utter crap.



--
My governor can kick your governor's ass

spicer are the best........... thats what I use.


On 06 Nov 2003 12:59:29 GMT, [email protected] (TOXICTAVRN) wrote:

>>i have a 78 chevy 3/4 ton with a 10'' lift 39.5 boggers and a healthy
>>454. i was wondering who makes a crossover steering kit for Dana 60. my
>>other question is why do i keep going through u-joints the pitch doesnt
>>seem bad, i grease it regularly but it doesnt matter. ive been told i
>>have to much power but i dont break them they just wear out. Could it be
>>im tighting the u joints straps to tight and egging the cups out? any
>>input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Joey
>
>
>i just have a comment on the u joints, i have had similar problems in the past
>with a few trail rigs of mine, my solution was to switch brands of u joints,
>they are not all created equal, i always specified dana spicer u joints, none
>of that beck arnley crap or anything else for that matter, so check out what
>brand your using for starters and switch to dana spicer if your not already,
>and in your case your vehicle is way more heavy duty than the toyotas and such
>i drove on the trail so top quality u joints are a must! oh check the part
>listings, there are light vehicle and heavy vehicle listings, if your just
>getting stock replacement u joints they most likely just aint cutting it!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>79 T/A WS6 455 ,Hurst 4 spd, Blk w/ t-tops, Heavily Fortified, 4mpg
>
>00 Ram 2500HD QC V-10 4x4,Blk,5 spd,4:10 LSD, 10mpg
>
>98 Intruder 1400, Blk, 5 spd, 25mpg
>
>

----
Elbert Clarke
elbert.clarke**@us.army.mil
remove ** to email