Universal joint and drive shaft installation and maintenance

 

The assembly of joints into shafts must be correctly aligned to obtain uniform motion and thus prevent vibrations from developing in the drive system - as shown in Fig. 1 - ensuring correct angles of installation and joint phasing as shown in Figs. 2 & 3. Lubrication of joints is essential to maximise working life and should be carried out daily in the case of “plain” bearing designs and once a week with the needle bearing types. Should the joints be working in an abrasive atmosphere of dust, the fitment of joint and spline covers is recommended (see pages 17 and 18 for details). These covers can be packed with grease to provide a continuous self-lubrication process. Covers must be soft wired or secured with a plastic tie or jubilee type clip at each end to prevent grease loss.
For joints working at high speed, the use of covers may not be suitable, therefore please consult our Technical Department. Joint working angles over 25 degrees should not be contemplated, even for slow speed applications, without prior consultation with our Technical Department.

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In some rare cases the drive arrangement may have equal angles that do not lie on a common plane. In these instances it is possible to have a special joint alignment to obtain cancellation.

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