If you have driven for a while, you have probably heard a mechanic or do-it-yourselfer use the term "universal joint." Often they'll include the name of this mechanical part in a car in a statement ...

If you work on cars — either as a professional mechanic or as a DIYer — or in another trade requiring the frequent use of sockets and hand tools, you probably understand how tricky some jobs can be, ...

Early ideas of universal joints (or U-joints) have dated back thousands of years and seem to originate from multiple sources. However, about a century ago, a young engineering graduate, Clarence W.