Not impressed with Yukon shafts

[buckmtn]

Should have gotten Alloy USA shafts. Went to install my longfield joints in them and could not get them together enough for couple of snap rings to seat in groove properly. Could have pressed them back out and ground just a little on the inside of the shaft for cleareance but did not want to risk damage to joint taking in and out. To expensive to risk busting the end of one of those caps out. Just put a small tack on the cap to make sure it didnt come out. After all that went to put in the axle and the stupid ears on the shaft are to big to slide through the knuckle. Randys R&P says that sometimes they need to be cleareanced some. Thats bull... If that is the case why did only three shafts need to be clearanced and the long side shaft slid right in. Sounds to me like they need a better QC department. For the money they should be right on!!!! Sorry for the long post anyone else experience this. Hopefully my joints will be OK

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

So you didn't put the clips on at all? That sounds like trouble to me.

Sometimes the shafts or knuckle do need to be clearanced a little to get the shaft in, not a big deal IMO.

I run Alloy USA shafts and didn't have to grind to clear them.

 

[muddermilitia]

I've got Yukon stubs, one I had to grind, the other i didn't

 

[buckmtn]

No I have the clips on all of them. One of them barely engages the slot and maybe 2-3 of the snap rings are in the grooves but not fully seated like the others. We had them in a press they would just not move anymore. No side to side movement of the cross which means they were bottomed out against the inside of the caps. The ones that were not fully engaged in the slot are the ones I tacked the caps on just to make sure, hopefully I won't have to take them out anytime soon..

 

[mrk5]

I just installed the joints in my Yukons and didn't have any trouble installing full circle clips. I did have to install the clip on one side then press the joint through 'til it was tight against the clip and then the groove was exposed enough to put the second clip in. In order to do this I had to have a "hole" below the cap on the first side to allow the cap to move far enough. Hope that makes sense.

The only difference is that I'm using Spicer joints.

I haven't installed the shafts yet to check knuckle clearance. I did some research on Pirate before getting the Yukons and it's very common to need to grind them to clear the knuckle. It's also not unheard of with other brands. I know it's a pain, but I kinda like the fact that they are putting in so much material that fitment can be tight.

 

[cybrfire]

I had to buff mine to get them through the knuckle as well. I'm pretty sure Stomper's had to be done as well.

 

[supersize75k5]

there was just a huge thread with pics and 5 different issues with these shafs on pirate..

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I haven't installed the shafts yet to check knuckle clearance. I did some research on Pirate before getting the Yukons and it's very common to need to grind them to clear the knuckle. It's also not unheard of with other brands. I know it's a pain, but I kinda like the fact that they are putting in so much material that fitment can be tight.

That extra material can also be a sign of poor tolerances and/or quality control (as the original poster was concerned about).

I would have no problem clearancing shafts or knuckles to make aftermarket shafts fit (if any clearancing is necessary its very minimal, less than 1/16"). I believe that Yukon and Alloy USA have both said that they would still warrantly shafts that had to be clearanced in such a way.

 

[sope]

I just pulled my knucles off. Doesn't seem like too big a deal with king pins. Probably almost as fast as clearancing them. I also had no problem with spicer joints.

 

[rdn2blazer]

I have Yukons stubs coming since I could never get my ALLOYUSA stubs. I setteled for the Yukons. I hope these things hold up, have herd nothing but crap. Wish I would have saved and poped for Barfields. I have my knuckles off already so I should have no problem there.........hopefully.

 

[buckmtn]

Thought about taking the knuckle off to get them in, but if for some reason you are out on the trail and need to get the shaft out I didn't want to fool with having to pull the knuckle off. Like I stated before seems like if they were of a high quality then the long side inner would have needed to be cleareanced like the others but it slid right in. I have a Alloy USA stub and checked it and it slid right in. I had to grind a good bit on mine to get them in. Randys R&P also told me this would not void the warranty. Guess you have to do what you have to do.

 

[CUCV2]

Out of curiousity, where are Yukon shafts made?

 

[Mudstud]

No I have the clips on all of them. One of them barely engages the slot and maybe 2-3 of the snap rings are in the grooves but not fully seated like the others. We had them in a press they would just not move anymore. No side to side movement of the cross which means they were bottomed out against the inside of the caps.

You CERTAIN you don't have a needle bearing in the base of one of those cups not allowing it to seat properly?

 

[Ned Kelly]

Out of curiousity, where are Yukon shafts made?

I thought it was India. There was an article in one of the 4x4 mags where they toured the factory (primitive by Western standards and minimal workplace safety - when's the last time you saw guys in a casting area or machine shop area wearing sandals?). They did not state if all Yukon products were made in India or not. This was about three years ago I think.

 

[Ned Kelly]

Sometimes the shafts or knuckle do need to be clearanced a little to get the shaft in, not a big deal IMO.

Sometimes Spicer shafts also need to be clearanced alittle also. I got some inner and outer (35 spline) Spicers a few months ago and they wouldn't fit through the knuckle. I had a friend in the garage who thought he'd solve the problem for me. Unknowingly to me, he took a big round rasp file and proceeded to file away on the steering knuckle to enlarge the whole, so that ujt ears could slide through. When he went to bolt the spindle on, it was no longer a nice snug press fit - but rather loose. He took ALOT off.
I ended up needing to get a new steering knuckle.
I wish he would have just filed alittle off the ears, and not the knuckle. Anyways, I prefer to file the ears, not the knuckle.

 

[Leper]

You CERTAIN you don't have a needle bearing in the base of one of those cups not allowing it to seat properly?

Exactly what I was thinking.

I have had to clearance knuckles or shafts on almost every one I have seen. Polish the shafts down some and take a hair off of the knuckle if you need to.

 

[miniwally]

Somethings not right if you couldn't get all of the snap rings to seat properly. Tacking the caps in on a new shaft and u joint is bad juju man.

It is a common thing to need to make the yoke on the shaft smaller. As they use the dies they come out of tolerance and the yoke get a little large once the dies get a certain amount out of tolerance then they start with a new die.

If you talk with any machinist or automotive tech type person they will tell you that the tolerances on vehicles are wide open. Frames are only down to like 1/4" of tolerance.

We aren't dealing with rocket ships.

 

[buckmtn]

The longfield joints don't have needle bearings. What else you gonna do beside tack the caps? Those things were tight as sh.. going in. I did not want to risk busting the caps of the $185 a piece u-joint pressing them in and out of the joint.

 

[mrk5]

That extra material can also be a sign of poor tolerances and/or quality control (as the original poster was concerned about).

I would have no problem clearancing shafts or knuckles to make aftermarket shafts fit (if any clearancing is necessary its very minimal, less than 1/16"). I believe that Yukon and Alloy USA have both said that they would still warrantly shafts that had to be clearanced in such a way.

My point was if they are making them as beefy as possible there isn't much room for them to grow as the molds get used and loose some tolerance. It's not like there's some strange lump of extra casting keeping things from clearing.

I have read one suggestion about grinding the knuckles. This person recommended only grind in 2 spots just enough to clear the yoke ears. I assume his thinking was that you wouldn't loose the tight fit for the spindle.

 

[mrk5]

The longfield joints don't have needle bearings. What else you gonna do beside tack the caps? Those things were tight as sh.. going in. I did not want to risk busting the caps of the $185 a piece u-joint pressing them in and out of the joint.

Did you add any extra grease? I wondering if the cap could be hydro-locked.

I know with the Spicer sealed joints you shouldn't add any extra grease because they have already metered out the grease for each cap to exactly what will work. The seals fit so tight, if you add more grease or even mix the caps up, the caps could hydro-lock and prevent them from sliding on all the way.