Caddy universal joints

As I`m building my 37 ford using a 78 Cad drivetrain, I came to the part where I needed the driveshaft shortened. My original plan was to just have the original cad shaft shortened.The orig. has 4 universals on it 2 at each end. Took it to the "shaftshop" to get an estimate and they suggested not using the orig 4 universals.Said they would have to make a complete new shaft because none of the orig. parts were useable, because they are all sized different from available univ. joints. Their price to me, was a little high. I tried the only other "shaftshop"I knew about in the area and they were $100 more. They said, that the original caddy parts are not available and that there was a lot of Caddy types in need of what I have. Anyone else know anything about this?

I have a '74 Cadi 500 in my pickup. I have a Ford nine inch rear end. I ended up using a drive shaft from an '84 Camaro with no modifications to it. I took my drive shaft and yoke to the auto parts store and found the universal joints I needed. They make universals with different sizes to fit.

I suggest that you pickup a turbo 400 yoke from a Chevy. Measure for the length of drive shaft you need. Go to the wrecking yard and find one the right length. Take them to the auto parts store or drive shaft shop along with the measurements for the rear end. They shouldn't have any problems figuring it out.

Keith

C, thanks, I got it made by the first guy. My question was is there anyone that is familiar with the Caddy universals and is there any demand for the original 4 joint system?

are you talking about a carrier bearing?

patina said:

are you talking about a carrier bearing?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure he's talking about a double cardan joint setup, similar to what Lincolns used.

What Jeremy said. Looks similar to this...



They're like two u-joints with a centering ball/socket between them, a primitive CV joint of sorts. Anyhow, the only reason I can imagine Caddy guys want them, is if they ruined theirs and need the yokes? I believe rebuild kits are available, but then again, it is Cadillac.....

Your exactly right Dr., that is a good picture of the joints I`m talking about. One of the salesmen I talked to said that there are no parts available to rebuild them when they wear out.I have two I`m not going to use.

i think i still got the one out of the hearse i scrapped

Patuna, there`s a set at each end of the drive shaft.

the shaft that came out of the hearse had a normal slick yoke then a carrier bearing then a double cardigan

Oh yeah, probably had the carrier bearing because of the longer wheelbase of the hearse.

i still got it if you need something off it

No I still have both mine too. That`s why I`m posting this info because the "shaftshop" guy claimed there was some demand for them.I guess I`m trying to confirm that.

i know some of the 4wd guys like them

Anybody out there that NEEDS these things? Any Caddy restorers?

double u joint shaft

I used the same set up in mine, with all the joints, seems like the 4 joints are more forgiving to vibration and alignment issues. I just scribed a line all the way down the shaft, cut it about where I thought was the middle, took the part I cut out and took about 1/4" out, squeezed it togeather and stuck it back inside the shaft, welded it to the shaft and then slid the other side on and lined up my scribe line, welded that and then ran a bead between both beads, no rebalance and it is smooth all the way to 90mph, I haven't had it faster than that yet.