jbwelda Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 seems to me it was in model cars magazine that i once saw a little feature on some u-joints, and i think it was mentioned they were sourced from a train shop. i looked back through most of my back issues and cant find it. they were metal, resembled actual u-joints, would actually articulate around and act like "real" u-joints. i went to the RR shop but all they had were large plastic very usable for trains but not for cars. these need to be smaller than the typical 1/24 scale driveshaft u-joints, I'm planning on using them for the steering linkage on the dry lakes roadster I'm building. Gregg or Jarius, do either of you know where i can either find that artilce or even better yet, find the u-joints themselves? as usual keep up the good work and jarius i loved that drawing of the motorcycle dude scratching his head over the package address but even more of that trike with the flathead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairus Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Wow, that is a high order to fill. As far as I know nobody makes any sort of scale "working" U-joints for 1/24th scale model cars. Especially for the steering shaft, which would make them roughly 1/2 the size of prop shaft U-joints. Your best bet is to make your own. I would avoid the idea of an actual scale working U-joint in the normal sense... instead make the illusion that it's an actual U-joint. For instance.... steel wire for shafts, brass or aluminum tube for the "U"s and then a tiny spring like that sold for carburetor linkage used as a connector. The spring flexes allowing movement and rotation. The brass tubes intersect and cover up the spring. It all works and everyone is happy! You could even use a piece of black rubber tubing if a spring is not available. The steel music wire is .039 and fits very tight into the spring. The aluminum tube slips over the spring. The whole affair took me about 10 minutes to find in my collection of junk. Where the springs came from… I think they were something I found in a bead store actually…. But that’s another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 hey thats a darn good idea jarius, many thanks and i think i will try it out tonite. btw it wasnt my intention that the u-joint *had* to work; its just my recollection that the ones i saw (somewhere) did actually work. i just want them to articulate enough to have the steering shaft appear to be correct but once they are in that position they are gonna stay there. im not up to making the steering wheel steer the wheels (and while im at it i think thats one "feature" on some diecasts that is a waste of engineering time and money but maybe thats just me). many thanks again and you just might see this design on latest pics of the roadster when i post them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 ps: cool illustration too. i always wished i could draw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darin Bastedo Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Great Idea Jairus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zebm1 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I don't know ifn these would work, and yu could try Model Railroader Magazine (Kalmbach Pub.) for parts, but tha oldtimer Shays Locomotives (used in tha old-time logging camps) used driveshafts and gearboxes outside tha drive wheels to supply power to tha drive wheels. I've seen some HO scale locos with working u-joint equiped driveshafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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