Does anyone know where I can get the boot/seal that covers up the ball & socket on the cardan joint on the rear drive shaft? I am replacing the rear U-joints and the ball & socket joint is all gritty. That is when I realized the boot is hard as a rock, cracked, and missing some chunks out of it. I don't want to replace the ball & socket without a new boot as it will just get messed up again.

I went to Ford, no longer available. Advance, NAPA, and Car Quest were unable to find it so I was told they could not get it. I looked on Bronco Graveyard, but did not see it there.

Any ideas??

 

Um, I've never seen such an animal... I know there is a boot over the slip shaft portion of the rear DS but have not seen the item you referred to. Any chance we might get a picture of it?

 

I got these pics off the web, so they are not mine. They do show the rubber boot that covers the ball & socket.

The boot is on the end of the drive shaft on the right side of the pic, it has the spring in the center.


Ok now this is funny. I just found these pics, and in this one he gives the Spicer part number for the seal in the write up. The person writing this says the spicer part # is 412-2


Another good shot of the boot. This one shows it going over the ball & socket.


Well at the very least I have a part number. Now I need to find out where I can get one. Sadly I don't have the time right now to look. I've been up going on 26hrs, just worked a 11hr shift. Need to go to bed so I can work 12+hrs tonight. I'll try more on Monday.

 

Well I will have to correct myself. The writeup from the pics is off a 1990 Bronco. Mine is a 1995, so I have no idea if it is the same part number.

Oh well at least I got some pics of what I'm talking about up.

Any thoughts, ideas??

 

if it is off of a 90 is should work on a 95. most of the parts are interchangable.

 

WOW!! Nobody has any leads on where I can find this thing or even what it is called? I searched the Spicer part# online and didn't come up with much of anything.

I was hoping someone here would know about it. Guess that will be my Monday project, LOL

 

Sure'nuff! There is a rubber dust shield in that CV joint! I checked the rear of my '94, used a good light to see into the H-yoke, and poked it gently with an awl to confirm that it is indeed rubber.

All of the CV (double close-coupled Cardan) driveshafts I have rebuilt had a thin steel dust shield instead. The rubber type is probably closer-fitting to the ball area. I've never had to mess with the Bronco's driveshafts, so am interested in what you find out.

Precision Universal Joint, now owned by Federal Mogul, is probably the biggest manufacturer of CV-centering ball assemblies and repair parts for them. So I tried Federal Mogul:

Welcome to the Federal-Mogul eCatalog Resource Center

Federal-Mogul - North America Aftermarket Solutions

with no luck.

Also tried Rockford Drive Line, Home Page - Rockford Drive Line they are a manufacturer of yokes, H-yokes, etc. compatible with many other companies stuff. There are many pages to their website tucked away in there.
If you get desperate, you could try giving them a call and see if they know of a source for the rubber seal, that top pic you have from supermotors shows it well. You will probably have to explain that the rubber seal IS NOT part of a centering-ball repair kit, that it rides outside of the ball and socket.

Please let us all know what you find out, I think you are in uncharted territory.

 

Uncharted territory...just where I wanted to be ...LOL

Well I was going to let this thread die. I didn't think anyone was interested, but I'll keep it up to date.

Every place I've looked for this boot thing, they look at me like I'm from Mars or something. So this morning I went down to a local welding/machine shop, I took the parts with me to show the guy(see I'm not from Mars). They have an indirect dealing with DANA Spicer. So this guy took some measurements called his supplier who is going to get a hold of Spicer and see what they can come up with

My next day off work is Thursday, so I'm going back then to see what, if anything, they found out.

 

Yes, please keep us posted. Most of the everyday stuff we can figure out for ourselves. It's the obscure stuff like that dust shield that most of us didn't know even existed that makes a website special.
Can you imagine someone taking their driveshaft off to rebuild it, then discovering that they need a part nobody has, that nobody has heard of, before they can put it back together?
Uh, heh heh, I guess you can!

You're doing your part to make it a safer world for our Big Bronco's

 

You know, this is not the first time I've been in this position. Seems like I always have the odd ball parts that need fixed.

Any way thanks.

So to give a quick update: I got a message on the machine.

We have found something...stop
sending parts...stop
should be in on Monday...stop

LOL, some of you may get that.

So any who, I'll see what happens on Monday and let you all know.

 

What's the latest on the seal? Did it turn out to be the right part?

 

The parts I ordered just came in the other day. Several weeks after they were supposed to be here. They look right, but due to work and the wet weather here I have not had time to work on the drive shaft yet. I am hoping to get to work on it, on my weekend off (Sun & Mon). I'll give an update on the parts I have then.

I can, however, give everybody the info I have found out about this.

First, the ball & socket. Spicer no longer services the ball & socket assembly by itself. The only way to get it, is to buy a new yolk. The ball & socket is serviced on the aftermarket. I did not want to use aftermarket, I would rather pay more for something then use "made in China".

Second, if the ball and socket assembly goes bad and is not replaced it will eat up the tit on the end of the drive shaft. If the tit is bad the drive shaft will need to be replaced or the yoke will need cut off a new one welded back on and rebalanced. The first signs of a bad ball socket is a whine coming from the cardan joint. After that you will start to get vibrations and a clunking sound from the joint because the cardan joint can no longer stay centered. At this point, replacement is the only option as the tit will be bad by now.

Now the boot. The boot should be replaced every time the u-joints are replaced, the cardan joint is dissembled, or the boot develops cracks. The boot is there to keep all maters of grit out of the ball & socket ensuring a long bearing life. If the boot fails, grit gets in the ball & socket causing rapid bearing failure.

The info I have provided came from the web, Spicer, and a drive shaft shop.

If the parts I have gotten are correct this is what I payed. The boot was $5.00 and the Spicer yolk with new ball & socket was $80.00. If the parts are correct I will be ordering a couple more boots and putting them back for future use. At $5.00 it is cheap insurance.

 

I rebuilt my ds about 7 years ago and that is the toughest part to come by. I got lucky at the time and found one at a drive shaft specialty shop in Banning, California. Apparently, a lot of people run without it.

 

I still haven't been able to get to put the drive shaft back together yet. Seems I have plenty of time. I just ordered all new bushings for the rear of the Bronco. The leaf spring bushings are on back order and will not be in until the end of the month, so they say. On top of that it has rained all weekend. So I will at some point get around to working on the d/s.

From what I have learned over the last few weeks, there is no way I would run without the boot on the cardan joint. That is why I will get a few more boots if it turns out to be the correct part.

 

If you want a new one, you are likely going to have to find a drive shaft shop and ask them. You will need your old one and a P#. That's the only place I could find one. most of the rubber was gone off mine and only the flat part was left. The main guy at the shop said they were not essential. I don't know, but I felt better about replacing it during the rebuild. He built every thing from 4x4 ds to big rigs. DS and diffs were all they did. There are people running without them or using the old one because that part isn't readily available.