rear u-joints, ZZ4 1981 shark

[obrienw]

Hi,
I am experiencing rapid wear on the rear u-joints (on prop half-shafts) after dropping a ZZ4 into my 1981 Vette with TCI Th350. I define rapid as new u-joints destroyed in 6000 miles. Anyone else with a beefed up motor in a shark experienced this and have any suggestions for beefing things up back there?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Yoda]

obrienw ~ Welcome to the Corvette Action Center Community ~

First off, what kind of driver are you? If you hammer at each stop light and go to the drags weekly.. Then about 6,000 miles may not be all bad. Also what type of U-joints are you installing, soild core or hollow core for grease?

Another thought is the yokes could be just enough out of round to cause excessive movement during torq, and extreme torq such as launching at other then "normal" driving would cause wear faster.

These are just a couple thoughts, good luck, Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride. Also take a minute and check out the L81VetteRegistry, just click on the logo below and visit the L81 Vette Registry forum at the top of the C3 forums

 

[Scott81]

Here's a little more Beef for your U-joints. Try brute Force U-joints with NO grease zerk. When your Vette is parked look at the back suspension, are the half shafts almost level with the ground? If not that may be your problem.

 

[obrienw]

Van steel

Scott,
Thanks for the pointer to Van Steel. I had forgotten about them. I had them do my rear wheel bearings a few years ago and they do outstanding work. This sounds like the solution I was looking for.