Aftermarket pinion yoke

[STxMunky]

Soooo, I stumbled across this article. (It is a bit long,

http://www.billavista.com/Tech/Articles/14-Bolt_1410_Yoke_Kit/index.html

I'm curious -- have you guys ever seen this, tried it, or have any thoughts on it? I'm mostly interested in the pinion yoke. I personally have had a heck of a time finding good u-joint straps that fit properly. So if this is supposed to fit better, last longer, and get more life out of the u-joint itself, maybe it's worth a shot??

The pic that really caught my eye is about halfway through the article, just before the "The Comparison" section. It looks as if the surface of the strap contacting the u-joint is much more effective than the traditional straps. The u-bolts also look thicker.

Thoughts?

[dvdswan]

IMO, 14 bolt u-joints, 1410s, are plenty strong, just get a pinion guard if you want to play on the rocks.  probably cheaper and  protects both yokes and straps.  if the strap is taking that much abuse, then the yokes are as well and will eventually fail too.



on the other hand, I'm using 1350 joints on my Nissan's drivelines and they use the U-bolt type on the dana 44 and t/case joints for the front and a flange type for the axle and u-bolt on the t/case for the rear.  no straps.

[Captkaos]

The only place to find proper straps are from a driveline company (that gets them from GM) or from GM.
I have seen the u straps before, never used them though.

[Irish_Alley]

those pics that he put up with the yoke on the rocks. how did his upgrade stop this from happening, and i dont care if your shaft or yoke hits a rock then your probably going to break something. and this is for rock crawling, maybe its me but all the stuff i ever broke mudding was a transfer case adapter and axle shafts. not had a problem with yokes. and it looks like he got the wrong straps to compare the GM one to
81019 with a 1.79" hole spread

or 81000 with a 1.58 hole spread

the differance is about .21" about a quarter of an inch and that looks like what his difference is also. imo he has some money to waist on a new yoke he should have got the pinion guard. and like he said you have to deal with the crush sleeve also.

[STxMunky]

Thanks guys! This is really helpful.

IMO, 14 bolt u-joints, 1410s, are plenty strong, just get a pinion guard if you want to play on the rocks.  probably cheaper and  protects both yokes and straps.  if the strap is taking that much abuse, then the yokes are as well and will eventually fail too.

I hadn't considered a yoke guard. I don't do much off-roading, and when I do it isn't heavy abuse. The reason I was considering the different yoke wasn't really for added off-road ability, but for better u-joint life. But I'm not sure that would even happen with the suggested setup.

the differance is about .21" about a quarter of an inch and that looks like what his difference is also. imo he has some money to waist on a new yoke he should have got the pinion guard. and like he said you have to deal with the crush sleeve also.

I do think it's obvious that he got the wrong straps for comparison. And I don't have extra $$ to play with, I'd like to be as cheap as possible.

Lastly, I really don't want to mess with the crush sleeve. I was just thinking ahead -- if I ever do have to go through my entire rear end, would I want to do this type of yoke/straps? Now that I consider y'all's opinions, I think the answer is no. MAYBE if I had a super-tough off-road only type of rig, I'd do the pinion guard. It seems like that would protect more, and be cheaper.

Thanks again!!!

[Engineer]

In my '77 K-30 sled puller I had a machine shop drill out the threaded holes so it could use u-bolts instead of the straps.

The straps are bad.

The u-bolts can be bad too if you over tighten them and bend the u-joint caps.

[Irish_Alley]

straps are ok for a weekend toy or a dd. if your putting power i would try to go with a flange