If you’re reading this blog, you are probably aware of Belden’s history as a leading manufacturer of engineered universal joints and driveshafts. What may be news to you is that Belden Universal is a highly versatile machine shop capable of producing a wide variety of machined components in our 24 CNC machine tools. We are continuously investing in new equipment, but as of today our machinery includes:
Custom Engineered Precision
AS 9100D
Universal Joints Blog
Submitted by ralf on Fri, 07/29/2022 - 16:58
Are you searching for an innovative u joint prototype or driveline solution for a new machine or vehicle in development? Belden Universal would love to help with your R&D project!
We have design engineers and highly skilled machinists on staff to help your product development team come up with the most effective and economical solution.
Belden will be your ideal partner from prototyping through full production. We have machining cells dedicated to both short-run (1 pc and up) as well as long run (up to 10,000 pcs) production.
Does your design need special fixturing or tooling? We have additive manufacturing capabilities in-house to enable quick iteration on fit, form, function, and fixturing. With our versatile CNC turning equipment, we can be your machining partner for components beyond u joints as well.
There are many approaches to new universal joint and driveline design, but we would recommend starting with one of our many existing standard products and customizing the hubs and lengths to fit your application. Read on to learn more about various customization options to bring your prototype universal joint or prototype driveshaft to life.
Submitted by ralf on Wed, 07/06/2022 - 08:41
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live in an ideal world where mechanical components never failed?
For those of us who live in the manufacturing real world, we all know that components do break, especially when selected or applied incorrectly. Our goal in this article is to help you understand the main failure modes of universal joints, and how to correct for them. Let’s dive in!
Submitted by ralf on Wed, 04/06/2022 - 10:18
Belden Universal application specialists spend all day, every day working with customers on specifying and pricing universal joints and drive shafts that meet our customers exacting standards. The goal of this article is to demystify how we determine pricing and lead times for our universal joints and drive shafts.
Submitted by ralf on Mon, 03/28/2022 - 05:54
Every manufacturing leader who has come of age in our industry in the last few decades should be familiar with the concept of ‘off-shoring’ manufacturing. In the era of cheap overseas labor and inexpensive, reliable shipping, ‘off-shoring’ proved to be an effective method of savvy buyers to control manufacturing costs.
However, no good things can last forever. Since 2020, a confluence of issues stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic have wreaked havoc with the ‘off-shoring’ strategy.
Submitted by ralf on Fri, 03/18/2022 - 05:48
At Belden Universal, we are single-mindedly obsessed with u-joints. We have studied the history and development of our product in great detail. Today, we would like to share the story of one of the u joint manufacturers who came before us, the Gray and Prior Machine Company.
Submitted by admin on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 08:49
Carefully specified universal joints not only ensure proper fit and function but can prevent scores of machinery problems further down the road. Joint selection should start with assessing the operating conditions, with all relevant factors communicated to your sales representative. Environmental exposure to fluids, abrasives, extreme temperatures or pressure, for example, may necessitate special materials, finishes or design modifications.
Submitted by admin on Thu, 06/27/2019 - 10:26
It reminds me a little of the old “Summer of Love” in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco when I was a kid, or maybe the grunge music scene in Seattle in the early 90s; two hot, trendy and uber-newsworthy movements that, by the time the academics had gotten around to naming them, by the time the media had begun covering them, and by the time they’d wormed their way into mainstream consciousness, those at their epicenter had long-since moved on to the next big thing.
Submitted by admin on Sun, 05/19/2019 - 10:16
It’s referred to as Manufacturing 4.0, the latest in a long line of wrinkles in our ever-changing world of heavy and light industry, a seismic marriage of technology, automation and computerization that is causing more and more manufacturing functions once done by human hands to be performed by sophisticated machines.
I will write more about Manufacturing 4.0 in the weeks ahead, especially from a human perspective. But today I’d like to offer one quick take on the concept as a whole. And to do that, let me first take you back a few decades.
Submitted by admin on Sun, 02/03/2019 - 09:23
We’ve heard the horror stories. Manufacturing 4.0 will be a nightmare. It will destroy everything good about American industry (if not our country itself and our vibrant working class), all in the name of progress. And it will be an industrialized version of some creepy Orwellian place where workers are rendered unneeded by an army of heartless and soulless (but not mindless) robots, and where – fueled by increased production and slashed costs – both unemployment and corporate profits suddenly rocket skyward.
