I dont know much about drive shafts/u joints but I do know that my front u joint needs some grease, it is squeaking under acceleration in 4x4. Does any one have a link with pics or able to explain exactly where/what to grease and what type of grease? I mean is there a grease zert some where to look for? How do I tell if the u joint is shot and should just be replaced?

Also how is the front drive shaft removed? I'm looking at a set of headers and in the instructions it says to remove the front drive shaft. Thanks guys.

 

Not all U-joints come wioh Zerks.

You have to physically look for them.
If you have one at each end...
Put some in anyway.. when the grease come out the seal ..stop the grease gun.

 

On the axle u-joints if you cant find the grease zerks they are probably the greaseless type or there is a little plug/bolt looking thing screwed into the end of one of the caps and you remove that and temporarily install a grease zerk the put the plug back. You dont leave the zerk in since there isnt enough room for it. One way to tell if the u-joint is shot is to have the hubs locked and t-case in neutral and safely jack up the truck tire and rotate the wheel back and forth. If the u-joint looks tight then it should be ok but if the u-joint goes clunk-clunk then replace it.
I dont know why you need to remove the front drive shaft for headers but you just unbolt the little u-joint retainers and remove the drive shaft. Be sure you dont drop the u-joint cups cause the little needle bearing will go all over.

 

If the u joint squeaks its trash. There is no saving it from that point its time to replace it.

 

I agree. Once they start squeaking they are already shot. Replace them, even the Spicer units are less than $20 so it's a minimal investment. You'll find the zerk fitting when you purchase the new ones because you'll have to install them on the cross piece.

 

Alright I'll just order a new one and get my bro in law to help me put it in. On summit racing their all less than $20. When it comes to ordering the new one, is there anything I need to know? Are the Spicer u joints the best? Thanks for all the good ideas.

 

If I do end up letting the shop do it, how many hours should he charge to change out that front u joint?

 

Look at the actual body of the u-joint between the cups (think of the letter X), there will be a rubber plug there. Remove it, and install a Zerk fitting.

 

If ya replace the axle joints put in ones with a Zerk that Has an inverted nipple (watch the parts counter girl blush when ya ask for that). Than get a nipple adapter to fit on yer grease gun. These also work better on the double u joint on most front drive shafts. always get greaseable u joints. Most shops and Stealer's will put in the non greaseable ones cuz they are cheaper and garrenty that you will be back soon.

 

Actually they aren't cheaper, and they are stronger. Having a solid joint is stronger than one that is hollow. The vast majority of people who own a vehicle with greasable joints never grease them anyway.

 

I've got a lot of non greasable joints in my time and I have never seen a solid one. I have drilled out the ones without and taped them for a Zerk. If there is solid ones out there for these years of tuck than I have never seen them. They are hollow and filled with grease when assembled. I can't imagine one with no lubricant lasting very long no matter what it was made out of.

 

I've never seen a solid one either. Everybody has their own opinion, but my own personal advice for the novice is, if the Spicer units are available locally, buy e'm. I've run every brand imaginable on my truck and my swamp buggy (56" Goodyear tractor tires), and they hold up better by far. I even installed greasable Spicer u-joints in the axle joints on my Dana 60 front axle, and they are going on 3 years now. This doesn't sound like a long time, but this buggy is used 2 weekends of every month, and is permanently locked in 4WD. I run it at speeds up to 45mph, run it through 5'-6' deep water, and climb 5' tall palmettos all day long. Now if you can afford the CTM joints (almost $200 a piece), you'd be hard pressed to break them, but that's overkill for a street driven truck.

 

The original U-joints on my '75 F150 had -no-zerks and outlasted the engine and "only showed any sign of wear" (according to the drive shaft guy:) "is because the carrier bearing went bad first". YMMV

An out of balance drive shaft and other vibration will kick-the-crap out of the U-joints in no time. :/

Yeah, I'm a "greezzer" and I know that grease only-slows-down whatever wear is going to happen anyway.

Alvin in AZ

 

If you end up dropping the driveshaft yourself, use chalk or a crayon to mark the shaft and yoke so they go back together the same way they came apart. You can end up with a vibration if not.


Pete

 

On my '99 Super Duty PSD, there were no zerks on the u joints. It had over 200,000 miles with the origional u joints and not a bit of vibration. I ran with the front hubs locked in from October (first snow) till well into March or April every year for the 7 years I had it. In my experiance I would say the non greasable units last as long or longer than the others. I think too much grease causes more harm than not enough.