Thread: Uni Joint coupling

Do you know what torque rating that particular hookes joint has? From that we could work out an approximate thrust rating.

Aaron

... would compliment a powered trailer, either PTO driven (most logical) or with its own electric motor/ small engine...

Then you would have to be careful as to which joint was for thrust, and which was for auxiliary power.

Aaron

No Aaron,, I'm sure its stamped on the joint though,,
not sure anyone with one would tell us---
maybe more info on the site,,

no info at all,,

Been looking at these, and a couple of interesting points have been made - both here and on other forums.

The first is what you have mentioned about the suitability of using a Uni joint for pulling like this, and the other was about the leverage point of the hitch being moved further from the vehicle.

The main parts of the Uni joint are custom made, so I would assume these meet the standards required for a hitch - there are certain forces they are required to be able to take, but i couldn't find the document with the short search I did.

That leaves the needle bearings in question as these are an over the counter affair, not specifically designed for the task, but that's a question I can't answer.

I'd hate for you to spend your dough Babs,, and see the van pass you!!

the torque loading for a UJ is the same as its thrust load rating. (it will hold more but the limit factor is the deformation of the cups, needles and centers of the outer bearings which then stop acting as bearings)

I wouldnt do it personally but I've seen it used for light weight (read farm quad) applications using just a propshaft cut short and welded to the trailerm the slip joint drilled and pinned to provide the hitch and the output flange bolt mounted to the hitch for the vehicle side.

Back in the 60s and 70s Jaguar independent rear suspensions used to have the u-jointed drive shafts as the top arm from the diff to the wheel, so yeah, a u-joint can take end loading if it's needed.