Just recently, a delegation from the Willys Corporation got together in a question-and-answer session with a delegation from the Spicer U-joint Company. Turned out to be a nice party too – you know – the kind that finally winds up with everybody running down the street in the middle of the night breaking milk bottles and turning over ash cans.
One good tip that emerged from the meeting was the Spicer warning that the nuts used to tighten U-bolts on universal Joints better be tightened evenly. Otherwise, there’s an uneven strain on the bearing cap which causes the cap to brinell.
When this happens, you get a vibration about at a speed of 35 mph – a nice tingling sensation up the soles of your feet.
The bottom or “U” part of the U-bolt is a flat surface. This fits snugly around the bearing cap. Besides fitting snugly, it must fit evenly all around the bearing cap.
Best way to guarantee that it will fit evenly, is to first tighten each of the U-bolts fingertight, then, with a wrench, tighten them one at a time, a little more, and a little more then a little more, ’til the nuts are down snug. No fair checking for even tightening by counting the threads as they emerge from the nuts. Some of these U-bolts aren’t cut off evenly and one side may have more threads than the other.
From Army Motors, Jan 1943