Ball and trunnion boot.

[jgreg53]

Has anyone had any luck getting the boots on without removing the pin?

[Sniper]

the only time I did it was on my 64 300, no issue whatsoever, but that was back in 89 and it's B&T is larger than my 51's, so the boot is also larger.

[Young Ed]

I did mine last summer but I used generic CV joint boots rather than OEM style reproductions.

[keithb7]

Here’s strike 3.
 

I tried. No go. Pin was seized in there and a hydraulic press was unable to move it. The boot was still in half decent shape. So it remained on there and is still functioning today. 

[rallyace]

I rebuilt both trunnions on my driveshaft and ended up ruining three boots in the process. I also had the problem of the pins not budging so I had to pull on the boots with the pins still in place. I still had a vibration when I was done. I then decided to bite the bullet and have a new driveshaft made with Spicer U-joints by a local truck driveline shop. It cost me $300 and I feel it was well worth it.

[Sam Buchanan]

1 hour ago, jgreg53 said:

Has anyone had any luck getting the boots on without removing the pin?

 

I've done it a couple of times but it is quite the ordeal, kinda like giving birth in reverse pushing the boot through the housing. Wish I had some good tips for you but it is a matter of patience, lube, luck, and more patience....and hoping the boot doesn't split. I give the boots a hot water soak, maybe that helps.

[Go Fleiter]

I did somtimes- throuh the housing and over the trunnion - 

As the quality of today´s boots seems to me to be worse than earlier,

the successful attempts were 60%, the others was ripped to unusefulness.

I hated this procedure!

This summer, my mechanic used a spreader an a matching modern boot.

 

spreader 65 €   example: boots, sure You will find same in US

 

It was easy to pass the housing and trunnion through the widened boot.

No problems in the future!

 

P.S.:

 

This week I insisted in having trunnion, bearing- balls, needles AND bellhousing changed,

as I suspected havy ratteling coming from there- after 250.000 mls...

 

6 tons were sufficient to push the trunnion out.

The old housing, once cleaned, showed a pair of wear channels caused from the bearingBalls of ~ 0,04 inch (1 mm) each.

Thus the heavy chattering!

The old trunnion was thinned ~0,004 inch (1/10 mm).

With the front propeller universal rebuilt, no more annoying ratteling!!

 

Greetings from Düsseldorf

 

 

 

[Doug&Deb]

I actually boiled the boots to soften them then applied liberal amounts of lube. After that the procedure in the service manual worked fine. 

[andyd]

I must admit that I haven't played with a ball & trunnion joint since 1973 when I removed the stock running gear from the Dodge & installed the poly V8, cast iron Torqueflite and spicer type joint......prior to that I had replaced the B & T joints on the stock 1940 Dodge driveshaft at least a couple of times and hated them with a passion...........I have to ask tho' what was the reasoning that Mopar used in sticking with the B & T joints for so long, the actual difference in manufacturing cost between the spicer(?) type of uni joiint and the Ball & Trunion type surely couldn't have been that much.....lol?........I was lucky when I bought the 41 Plymouth a few years ago that the previous owner had installed the spicer type of joint.......if it had not been so then I certainly would have swapped the mongrel things out.......lol........andyd  

[TodFitch]

45 minutes ago, andyd said:

.....I have to ask tho' what was the reasoning that Mopar used in sticking with the B & T joints for so long, . . .

The ball & trunnion joints are actually a form of a constant velocity (CV) joint. There is no particular need for a CV joint on a driveshaft that has a limited range of motion but I suspect that some old time engineer who thought they were better kept them in the design until he was retired out.

 

With respect to vibration on a ball & trunnion setup, I believe there are three possibilities:

• The housing being worn.
• The shaft being bent.
• The pin being mispositioned.

Barring some extreme off roading bending the shaft by contact with boulders, etc., I think vibration developed in service is likely due to the housing getting worn. That, in turn due to a bad boot letting dirt in. The pin is a really tight fit and the only way it could be mispositioned is if it was not installed correctly.

[Kilgore47]

There is a video on line showing how to replace the boot without removing the pin.  Just type in "ball and trunnion boot replacement" and you will find it.  Not easy but it can be done.  I destroyed the first one I tried.  The other option is to use the leather boot that wraps around.  The new rubber boots are not high quality.  A couple of months after I installed the new boots they were already cracking.  But a year later and they are still holding.  Next time I have to fool with this I will have a new drive shaft built with modern U joints.

[jgreg53]

Young  ed.  Would you remember the part number of that cv boot?  and was it a split boot?

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by jgreg53

[TodFitch]

1 hour ago, Kilgore47 said:

. . .  Next time I have to fool with this I will have a new drive shaft built with modern U joints.

 

Seems like the approximately $65 and a universal boot as mentioned by Go would be cheaper than having a new driveshaft built:

 

5 hours ago, Go Fleiter said:

I did somtimes- throuh the housing and over the trunnion - 

As the quality of today´s boots seems to me to be worse than earlier,

the successful attempts were 60%, the others was ripped to unusefulness.

I hated this procedure!

This summer, my mechanic used a spreader an a matching modern boot.

 

spreader 65 €   example: boots, sure You will find same in US

 

It was easy to pass the housing and trunnion through the widened boot.

No problems in the future!

 

P.S.:

 

This week I insisted in having trunnion, bearing- balls, needles AND bellhousing changed,

as I suspected havy ratteling coming from there- after 250.000 mls...

 

6 tons were sufficient to push the trunnion out.

The old housing, once cleaned, showed a pair of wear channels caused from the bearingBalls of ~ 0,04 inch (1 mm) each.

Thus the heavy chattering!

The old trunnion was thinned ~0,004 inch (1/10 mm).

With the front propeller universal rebuilt, no more annoying ratteling!!

 

Greetings from Düsseldorf

Here is what I think Go is talking about:

 

 

[Sniper]

A new driveshaft is cheaper than that spreader, lol

[TodFitch]

1 hour ago, Sniper said:

A new driveshaft is cheaper than that spreader, lol

You can get a new driveshaft for less that $100 or so?

 

Looks like the tools start at about $85: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cv+boot+spreader 

 

Edit: It looks like there are even lower tech kits:

 

 

if/when the current boots wear out I will be seriously considering something like this.

[Sniper]

Those aren't SKF VKN 402's, but rather some cheap knock offs.  It's like buying drill bits off the $1 bin at the grocery store, don't be surprised if the bend on you, BTDT, lol.