Casting Repairs

"Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin" (ulteriormotors)
09/16/2013 at 10:35 • Filed to: Pretengineering

So the other day, my friend managed to rip apart the driveshaft in his Honda CR-V. The front universal joint was completely destroyed. We can replace the pivots and bearings just fine, but the yoke that mates to the transmission....

Well, it was pretty destroyed. The bearing shells has slowly been working loose and eventually just ripped right out the side. Neither of us had any idea where to buy a spare, and it was late in the day on a Saturday anyway. So I went about repairing it.

Fortunately, it's a steel casting. That makes my life easy. I was able to weld over the entire thing until it was a big blob, and then machine it back down to the appropriate size and shape. Also fortunately for me, only one of the "ears" was totaled, so I was able to get dimension and alignment references from the other one.

Should be all good to go now.

DISCUSSION (17)

MonkeePuzzle > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 10:38

woah, impressive. Cost of a new part would have been?

If you've seen my project, you'd know I'm not mocking, I'm all for rehabbing a broken part rather than buying. Just wondering what the effort vs cost of replacement is

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > MonkeePuzzle
09/16/2013 at 10:43

The big problem wasn't so much cost (although we're broke), as that we didn't know where to get a replacement.

The effort wasn't all that much, as it was only a couple of hours (if that) of my time.

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > MonkeePuzzle
09/16/2013 at 10:45

Thanks!

I have no idea what the cost of replacement is, as I'm not sure how to get one of these yokes short of buying a whole new driveshaft. And that is expensive.

It's not all that bad for me to do this. It's only a couple hours of my time, a fair amount of which was waiting for the metal to cool so it would stay annealed.

MonkeePuzzle > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 10:58

yeah, its probably not a part your local Pepboys has, or even likely the local Honda dealership, it'd for sure be a special order with days of waiting

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > MonkeePuzzle
09/16/2013 at 10:59

Even beyond that, checking all the usual suspects online turned up nothing. It doesn't seem like anyone sells individual castings for driveshafts.

wilsel > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 10:59

Look you've mended it!

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > wilsel
09/16/2013 at 11:00

I have mended something!!!!

MonkeePuzzle > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 11:00

probably would have had to be a junkyard part I suppose

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > MonkeePuzzle
09/16/2013 at 11:03

Junkyard parts are the best parts!

dinobot666 > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 11:09

Honda doesn't sell components for the rear drive shaft of the CR-V, but they will sell you the entire assembly.

You may need to have the one you repaired balanced after you fix it. Good luck!

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > dinobot666
09/16/2013 at 11:14

Statically, at least, it is balanced.

MikeMeade > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 11:20

I'm almost more impressed with how clean the fixed part is! That think looks like it has never been so shiny!

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > MikeMeade
09/16/2013 at 11:25

Thanks! I gave it a quick sandblast before welding so that I wouldn't have any contamination or porosity. When it comes to drivetrain, I don't mess around.

MikeMeade > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 11:26

Yeah, the sandblast cabinet has been on my Christmas list for a couple of years. Seeing the night and day difference, I may just have to go out and get one.

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > MikeMeade
09/16/2013 at 11:32

If you can afford a good one, go for it. Other than that, the harbor freight ones aren't that bad as long as you have a large air compressor. Actually, you'll need a large compressor regardless of what sandblaster you have.

MikeMeade > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
09/16/2013 at 11:45

I've got a 5HP 30 gallon compressor just waiting on getting 220 power to the garage. Getting the sandblast cabinet might actually give me justification for having it!

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > MikeMeade
09/16/2013 at 11:46

That'll do!