Driveshaft rebuild Kit, front yoke of rear shaft

Anybody have or know where I can get the rebuild kit for the center CV joint? Even if you have a GM part number it would be helpful.

My driveshaft has no tension in the CV joint, just flops back forth with inadequate movement, and it should spring back over center with a good joint. Can't rebuild/use it in this condition.
I may need the splined front yoke portion of the rear driveshaft that slips into the front shaft if the ball on that part that forms part of the CV joint is worn beyond use on mine. Breaking it down this week.
Thanks for any help.

Got a PM from Slickshift on this and sent a PM back, not sure if you are getting it. I am interested. layne4m@gmail.com

Got hold of Slickshift, good talking with you.

I am wondering if we can 'build' a rebuild kit since they are NLA. Mine was done in the 80s
The kit is a ball stud, 2 pc socket, seal and a spring (IIRC)
CV Joint

Spring
Ball Stud
or maybe better:
Aurora Bearings

We'd have to make a mold for the seal and maybe extract the spherical ball from an existing joint, but I think we may be able to make it. The biggest challenge is the spring, IMO, as that is what broke on mine all those years ago. If we can define it, we can get a spring made. Does anyone have a kit they can take a look at or an axle we can disassemble and measure?

Keith

My understanding is that:

The 61-63 Olds F85/Cutlass and Buick Special/Skylark use a CV joint that does not have a replaceable ball. The ball is machined into the front yoke and is about 0.575" There is then a bushing insert kit (3 piece) for the rear yoke and the two interface.

The full size cars of the period that use a two piece driveshaft and CV joint and have a replaceable ball of about 0.875". You can still buy that kit.

Is your's different than these applications?

Hmmm. I did not remember that the ball was not replaceable. It was a lot of years ago...
Nothing saying we could not make the ball replaceable and replace it with a 0.5" kit... It may be better and easier than the other option (reconstructing a shaft with other components). Biggest challenge may be getting the new ball on center. May be something that a driveshaft shop would have to do. Like I said, if someone has the old/broken components, we may be able to come up with a repair even if it is the just a spring replacement.

This particular part worries me a bit though mine is working as these kits are NLA and it can be a problem if it is broken. I already have a mold for a heater valve seal diaphragm and this is another one on the list.

I have been told, I have not tried it yet but will next week, that National Seal #13X22X6 fits the the rear insert socket. I am told by the parts store that the number is the dimension of the seal and it is supposed to be a little thicker than original but that it works. As far as the ball, I would think a good machine shop should be able to build the ball up and machine it down if a good part cannot be found. Problem is the insert kit with the bushings and spring. Trying to find a good used one at this point. Would be good to recreate it but no doubt take a lot of time, but if you have a good repro I think it would be a fairly popular item. Bet there's a lot of shafts with vibration out there that could benefit from a freshening.

Since I have changed the trans in the car to a TH200 3spd auto with a sliding rear yoke, vs the Roto5's fixed rear yoke, I have decided to go with a new driveshaft with modern components including a modern center support bearing and carrier that doesn't simply float in the bracket. It's larger in size but I flipped the support bracket upside down and rotated it 180 degrees and everything fits great with superior and easily replaceable modern components-basically Bronco II.

I did talk to Craig at Driveshaft Specialists in TX 210-342-6622 and he is familiar with the original shaft and the CV joint problem. He said they machine out the existing ball making it replaceable and make both sides of the yoke compatible with the "big" GM 2 pc driveshaft CV rebuild kit which is still available and uses a larger replaceable ball and bushing, all of which comes in the rebuild kit. Not cheap to do but a good solution if you want to keep the original shaft.

Hi guys.  I know I am late to the party here, but I just saw this thread today.  I have a NOS Saginaw slip yoke repair kit, part #5679548.  I opened it up today to see what's inside.  It includes a new splined yoke and other parts including two springs.  I will attach a pic of the instructions packed inside, which are vague to say the least.  It does NOT have any rubber part in the kit.  Most of the parts in the kit, besides the yoke, are shown in the center circle of the instructions.  There is another spring too, short and conical in shape, not shown in the pic.  Look at the CV Joint drawing earlier in this string that keithg posted, the conical one appears to be the ball seat spring.  I am guessing the straight spring included in the kit is not used on our cars???  Anyway, if one of these is the spring you spoke about early in this thread, perhaps I could find a spring shop to duplicate it if there is enough interest. I know of a shop nearby that might be willing.
The ball definitely is part of the splined yoke, not separate.  Other parts in the kit, particularly the ball seats, would be harder to duplicate than the springs in my opinion, but maybe they don't wear out or break like a spring.  I spotted this kit in eBay some time ago & pounced on it even though my CV joint is OK at present, just in case. Is there any interest in trying to duplicate one or more of these NOS parts?
Pete, Ohio

Problem is the ball, ball seats, spring, and seal all wear out. If the Cardan joint assy (CV joint sortof) is worn out you will have a vibration you can't get rid of. Without the rebuild kit or finding some good used parts I think you have 2 options- mod it as described or go to a custom driveshaft.

There are a couple of spring mfrs that I have used on projects. They may stock one:
http://www.centuryspring.com/tapered/tapered-springs.html
https://www.thespringstore.com/tech-info/stock-conical-tapered-compression-springs.html

If we can get the wire diameter and max OD, min OD and length, even if a tapered is not avail, maybe a wave spring or belville stack could work.

Keith

If the spring is the only problem that may work. The other big problem that is experienced is that the "ball" that is on the splined section and the bushing/insert that is on the rear section of the shaft that contains the spring also wear out. The ball is a machined in part of the front splined part of the rear shaft and is not replaceable, it is replaceable on the big GM 2 pc shafts of the era and a rebuild it is still available, but it won't work on the F85/Skylark shafts. I was able to pick up a "good" used shaft and "good" used parts to repair a shaft, both of which we will use but I opted for a new shaft on mine. Also, there is a shop in TX that has a fix. I posted this on the jetfireforum a little while ago.

Since I have changed the trans in the car to a TH200 3spd auto with a sliding rear yoke, vs the Roto5's fixed rear yoke, I have decided to go with a new driveshaft with modern components including a modern center support bearing and carrier that doesn't simply float in the bracket. It's larger in size but I flipped the support bracket upside down and rotated it 180 degrees and everything fits great with superior and easily replaceable modern components-basically Bronco II. Much more robust Cardan joint.

I did talk to Craig at Driveshaft Specialists in TX 210-342-6622 and he is familiar with the original shaft and the CV joint problem. He said they machine out the existing ball making it replaceable and make both sides of the yoke compatible with the "big" GM 2 pc driveshaft CV rebuild kit which is still available and uses a larger replaceable ball and bushing, all of which comes in the rebuild kit. Not cheap to do but a good solution if you want to keep the original shaft and don't have good parts.