[DeTomaso] stock halfshaft u joint

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/22/13 3:25:56 AM, justingreisberg at hotmail.com writes:

> thanks for those insights - so the u joint itself breaks?  So, in my 
> case, where the press fit is not so tightanymore on one u-joint end cap, I 
> should not expect a failure?  i can not understand how a weak press fit (not 
> grossly loose) would make the half shaft fail, but I am curious what others 
> have thought.
> 

With a loose cap, what happens is, the cap begins to rotate in the holder, 
busily reaming it to a larger size. Meanwhile, each time you get on or off 
the gas, there's an impact against the u-joint holder, which, much like a 
peening machine, ovalizes the hole making even more clearance. So the severity 
of impacts grows as more clearance is generated. Eventually, the needle 
bearings flat-spot, disintegrate and the u-joint itself finally breaks from the 
repeated hits. It's the same effct on things   as easing the clutch out or 
snapping your foot off the pedal. Cheers- JDeRyke