<VV> U-joint disaster

[Louis C. Armer, Jr.]

Hey Jim, It would seem to me that you may have discovered the reason
for the failure of both u-joints on the half-shaft. If the "tab" failure 
was the
first thing to happen, then it is possible that end play, and centrifucal force
could cause that end cap of the outboard u-joint to fail and cause the rest of
your catastrophic half shaft failure. We now have 39 + years of wear and tear
on our LM Corvairs and metal fatigue may be possible in any moving part.

Chuck Armer
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  At 02:21 PM 3/7/04 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>I need to ask the collected wisdom of the VV group.  The other day, there
>was a hell of a bang under the rear end of my LM Corsa.  I finally got it
>jacked up today to start the repairs.  I knew before that the passenger side
>inboard u-joint had sheared the trunion and was just flopping around in the
>differential yoke.  What I didn't know was that the drivers side outboard
>u-joint was also sheared.  Can any one out there shed any light on the
>possible cause of this damage.  Another bit of bad news is that the little
>tab that is cast into the left hand wheel hub is broken off as well. Its
>function is to prevent any end play in the u-joint cap.  Looks like I'll
>need to find another rear hub as well.  It's never as simple as it looks at
>first glance.  Have any of the racers\autocrossers  experienced any failure
>like this?
>
>Jim B.
>
>'66 turbovert
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Corvair Atlanta, BOD
CORSA MEMBER
CORSA Tri-Membership Chairman
http://carmerjr.home.mindspring.com/