Universal Joints Blog

Looking for Automotive U Joints?

Submitted by nick on Fri, 08/15/2025 - 12:28

Many visitors come to Belden Universal each day looking for a universal joint for their car or truck. While we don't make autmotive u joints in our facility in Hillside, IL, we have curated a set of well-respected brands to provide a selection of u joints for your car or truck if that's what you're looking for. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Top Brands We Recommend (click the brand name to go to web store):

Don't Call Us The Rust Belt

Submitted by nick on Tue, 04/15/2025 - 15:48

There’s a widespread, outdated, lazy narrative that American manufacturing is falling apart. You’ve seen it—gritty, black-and-white photos of abandoned factories, flickering memories of some bygone industrial era, often captioned with phrases like “Rust Belt” or “deindustrialization.”

It’s wrong. And worse, it’s holding us back.

Start Your Aerospace Prototyping with Belden Universal

Submitted by ralf on Tue, 06/11/2024 - 16:34

This guide outlines the essential steps for prototyping universal joints and driveshafts tailored to aerospace applications. For personalized assistance and expert guidance, reach out to our sales and application engineering team. Let Belden Universal help you achieve excellence in your next aerospace project.

The 7 Best Ways to Break a Universal Joint

Submitted by ralf on Thu, 01/25/2024 - 10:35

Living in an ideal world where our couplings never falter would be a dream. However, living in the daily reality of manufacturing, our u-joints occasionally throw us a curveball. We thought we’d have a little fun with this blog post and give you a few of the *best* ways to break them:

How to Deal with Extreme U-Joint Applications

Submitted by nick on Tue, 01/09/2024 - 11:16

Real-life industrial applications often deviate from the ideal scenario for a mechanical system. Rather than a temperate and dry environment, your application may be hot and humid. Instead of a dust-free, clean room, your u joint might be subjected to dirt, corrosive chemicals, or seawater. If your application is particularly dirty, hot, corrosive, or unusual in some other way, this article discusses how to size, maintain, and extend the life of u-joints for extreme applications.

‘Custom Universal Joint’ Doesn’t Need to Mean ‘Expensive’

Submitted by ralf on Fri, 01/27/2023 - 10:23

“We’d like something off the shelf.” These are the words we hear most often in a first conversation with a design engineer or buyer when they find our universal joints online or through a distributor. Whether it’s an AS9100 aerospace or defense project, a high-precision medical device application, or a joint for a simpler industrial machine, the first request is always for a standard, off-the-shelf u-joint. Why might this be?

Resources To Help You Learn About U Joints

Submitted by ralf on Mon, 09/26/2022 - 11:16

Are you trying to get smarter about universal joints but don’t know where to start? Belden Universal has created a curated collection of leading-edge educational content covering the wide variety of universal joints and customizations available to perfectly fit your engineering application.

Why Is Your U-Joint Failing?

Submitted by ralf on Wed, 09/14/2022 - 18:20

At Belden Universal, we take pride in the expertise of our application engineers. We work with every customer to spec out the exact u joint needed for their unique application. If you’ve worked with less detail-oriented universal joint suppliers in the past, perhaps you’ve experienced unexpected u joint and driveshaft failures in your equipment.

When Precision Matters, Pick Belden U Joints

Submitted by ralf on Tue, 09/13/2022 - 16:17

Hubs can be machined in alloy steel with various platings, various grades of stainless steel, forgings, extruded aluminum for a high strength-to-weight ratio, and other specialized materials as needed. Belden Universal’s high-precision manufacturing processes ensure that each Belden u joint or drive shaft can perform optimally with long life and minimal backlash under challenging application conditions. Find your solution with our precision universal joints.

U-Joint Boots - We've Got You Covered!

Submitted by ralf on Tue, 09/06/2022 - 16:39

Belden Universal has you covered with the u-joint boot required for your application! Keeping universal joints fully lubricated reduces friction, wear, and heat generation and can significantly prolong the useful life of the assembly.