U-joints are going bad in my driveshaft. I know I need a new one. Can't get my hands on one right away. It squeaks and clunks occasionally. Am I going to destroy the driveshaft by driving the car a far ways and racing it this weekend? I have the time, just not the availability of a cheap one. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Probably only if you break a u-joint and the shaft comes flying out. I would be more concerned if it is the front joint that is going bad. If that comes apart it could jab into the ground as you are moving and catapult the rear of the car off the ground making your car out of control, and possibly causing more damage.

 

I'd be conscerned.... racing tends to be harsh on drive train components, even when their in tip-top shape.

The faster the car is going, the more likely you'll have a problem. Autocross might be ok, but with road racing, or drag racing, you're asking for trouble

 

What year is the driveline? The early ones had replaceable u-joints, whereas on the later ones the whole driveshaft must be replaced. I definitely wouldn't race a car with bad u-joints. That's just begging for trouble.

 

new, that is why I have to do the whole thing

 

yeah u-joints failing,, no racing. do what you have to do
to fix or replace the u-joints. look at it like this :
you pay money to race, right ? your racing and the part fails. you loose your entrance fee, the race,and what ever other parts it takes with it when it blows. and thats more money. drive shaft safety loop. it can be made at home for cheap so you can race at least, and if it fails the drive shaft is contained in the hoop. 2 'L' brackets bolted to under the car and a piece of flat metal
to bridge and create the hoop,,,easy, cheap too.

 

That's a real good idea for ANY car!

Just noticed I hit 900 posts. 100 more and I'll be ready for some serious psychotherapy!

 

The drive shaft loop is a VERY good idea.

 

mine blew up at the tranny side about two months ago...it sure wasn't fun...thank God it happend when shifting to second.

 

I had a drive shaft that blew out the front U joint when I was doing about 60. It came up and hit the underside of the tranny hump so hard that the plastic trim that goes around the shift boot shot straight up and hit the ceiling in the car . Scared the **** outta me, and my friend riding with me looked like he was about to jump out the window because he had moved over towards the door to get the hell away from the noise, haha. Anyway, if you look under the car you will see that luckily all the heat shields and **** over the (stock) exhaust keep the front of the shaft from falling down. That was in my stock 85 though, I dont know about my 83 cause I took all the heat shields out when I put the RB exhaust in...Hmm.

Also, here are a couple Ebay auctions I spotted:

Good condition 79-82 shaft with replaceable U joints almost new:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33728

Used driveshaft, also from an 82:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33738

Hope that helps ya .

~T.J.

 

no and no
as the 79-82 isn't the same as my 85

 

Are you sure? Ive heard that they would fit, because I think people get them from the junk yards just so they can replace the joints...

~T.J.

 

i heard they didnt... besides it would make sence for mazda not to make them swapable, otherwise everybody would get an 79-82 shaft, when the ujoints on their current one went out. Then mazda wouldn't be able to rape us on driveshafts....

I took the smart way out, and got a aftermarket one from mazdatrix with replaceable u-joints.