I have an '88 F-250 which is slinging the grease from the u-joints all over the bottom of my trucks. Is this because the seals are compromised by too much grease being injected? What is your thoughts on the "Brute Force" Liftime u-joints?

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 18-Nov-02 AT 05:35 PM (EST)]>What is your thoughts on the "Brute Force" Liftime u-joints?

Overpriced hype. :-X23 Not worth it compared to Spicer Gold lifetime joints.

Yeah, you probably just put too much grease in. If you HAVEN'T put any grease in, it sounds like their seals are crap. I recommend sealed u-joints - their seals fit tighter, and they're stronger since they don't have grease journals drilled thru them.

 

I had it serviced, and then it started losing the grease. Where do you get the Spicer u-joints you mentioned?

 

Personally, most of the people I know would never put non-greasable U-joints or Ball Joints in their trucks. A little maitenance and the greasable ones last a good long time.

Mine spray grease too, but this is normal. To grease these things well you've got to get the old, dirty grease to come out of the joints' ends, so it is going to go someplace. Think of it as underbody rust protection.

Best,

 

NAPA and other parts stores sell them, but they may be reboxed by the distributor. NAPA boxes Spicer Gold u-joints as NAPA Gold.

The same thing that allows grease to come OUT also allows water & other contaminants IN. If the seals have never been stretched open by someone pumping grease thru them, they won't leak NEARLY as soon. And the missing metal from the grease journals weakens the structure of the cross. Yeah, it's slight, but every little bit hurts when you're towing a 13-yard dump truck behind a Bronco! :7 Since I've started using sealed u-joints, they haven't worn out NEARLY as frequently and none have broken. :P

 

I have the ones with the Zerk fittings also. My previous ones were sealed. Just grease them up with each oil change and they should be fine.

 

I looked on the Napa web site, and they distinguish them by "Standard Duty" or "Heavy Duty" (nothing about Napa Gold). I will have to stop in the Local shop and check it out. Thanks for the info.

 

Hmm... I've always been of the mind that with the amount of grease that gets to the edge of, and past, the seals, there leaves little to no room for water and contaminants to get in.

Now if we're talking 4x4'ing, and stream crossings, or total submersion, I'd still rather be able to pre-fill my U-joints with grease, then also be able to clean them out with grease, than have a 'sealed' unit with its minimal, used, and dirty grease that I couldn't get to. As long as such a seal must turn on the u-joint body (which it always must - that's its job), it will not seal out water and contaminants. And pushing grease through greasable U-joints does not stretch their seals - they're made to do that. Neither seal is hard-fastened to the u-joint body - they can't be, so the choice is always having a seal with tolerance to let stuff by, or very nearly the same seal with the ability to push worn u-joint metal and contaminants out.

I've been in the car & truck biz for, oh, 16 years now, and have seen, and met people who had the general consensus, that greaseable parts are longer lasting when the owner takes care of them. Solid U-joints are definitely desirable for vehicles that have 300+ horsepower, or loads of torque, (and that use it for drag launches, 4x4'ing, or truck pulling).

NAPA's greasable u-joints seem to have been designed a different way. They allow grease to be pushed in to one of the cap-ends instead of in the central part of the body. While there must still be a hollow space for the grease to flow, this allows for higher strength due to the amount of metal that is allowed to remain in the central body. I higly doubt any nearly stock Ford gasoline motor would be able to outright break one.

Best,

 

I can tell you from experience of 4-wheeling & submerging that you DON'T want that tiny gap, because water DOES get in.

And I can also say from experience that my BONE stock 4.9L DID break one. I was towing a dump truck (the kind built on an 18-wheeler tractor chassis) up a hill at the time...