well, i finally dropped my driveshaft to install a grease fitting and fix that annoying clunk once and for all. let me begin by saying, i am a professional tech, and i almost forgot to chock the wheels and apply the parking brake when i was removing the driveshaft (and truck was parked on a partial incline). needless to say, if i had not remembered to chock the wheels, i probably will be dead now. so again, i stress, remember to block at least two wheels, because once that driveshaft is disconnected, "park" on your shifter or if your in gear (manual trans), means nothing. so with that said, i found it quite easy to do. i just unbolted the 4 8mm cap bolts holding the front half of the rear driveshaft. make sure you mark the orientation of the u-joints, in other words, leave yourself a bunch of scribe marks, or use a white crayon, so that everything goes back exactly as it came off. once the 4 bolts are off, then gently pry off the u-joint. dont hammer on it, as you may pop off one of the bearing caps. then remove the steel band on the rubber accordian boot closest to the u-joint you just removed . i replaced it with a radiator style hose clampwhen i was putting everything back together. then pull the rubber boot back some, and slide the joint and the short part of the driveshaft out. i did need a rubber mallet at this point to get the splines to let go, but i held the bearing caps, to prevent them from falling out. once it was out, i cleaned up the insides real well, degreased it, and drilled a small hole to install a grease fitting. i personally used a tap to get the threads started on my grease fitting. i gave it a good cleaning again to make sure there were no metal filings, etc in the tube. then i greased it a little to get the splines to slide in nice. then once it was back on the truck, i installed my hose clamp to seal up the rubber boot, then greased it up. test drive showed no signs of clunk. Victory!. any questions, you can email me. i was a little unsure at first, but once i got into it, it really was quite simple.

 

I wish I had a professional tech as a next door neighbor.

 

Sounds like you got it all figured out! Good job, I'm sure I will be doing the same thing, before I get a clunk!

 

What kind of grease did you use?

 

About twenty years ago I was told to pull the driveshaft out of a Ford Pinto. I pulled the car into the shop and drove it up on those ramps that elevate the front end.

I forgot to chock the rear wheels and proceeded to remove the driveshaft. As I was inspecting the underside of the car, I started to hear a creaking sound. Instinctively, I shot out from under the car without even thinking about it. Thankfully, I was on a wheeled crawler and was able to get out quick.

Seconds after I shot out from under the car, the two ramps shot out from under the front tires and the car came straight down with great force and rolled backwards out of the shop.

I would have been killed for sure.

Use chocks and jack stands guys, your life depends on it!

 

i initially used a synthetic grease used for caliper pins and slides to get the splines all nice and greasy to re-install. then i used a standard grease gun style grease. i will simply grease it at every other oil change, or as needed.

 

When you installed the grease fitting, did you groove the shaft so that the grease can lube all the way around, or did you go another route?

 

Where are you installing the grease fitting exactly? I do not have a "clunk" yet, but would like to know how to avoid it.

 

Do you have any pics you can post?

 

I'd be VERY interested in getting pictures of your modification. I think that would enhance this thread (and the site) greatly!

 

If you think about it, unless you have a grease groove - either in the yoke or on the shaft - the only grease you'll get is along the splines directly under the grease fitting.

Anybody else see it differently?

 

Exactly Big Orn - I stated this in previous discussions on this topic!

 

I have a tub of the D2AZ-19590-A ready to go into mine, my brothers, my dads, my friends... It's the blue stuff that apparently will fix it longer term than regular grease. Just what I've read.

 

At 130,000 miles now my truck has needed it about every 10,000 miles after 70,000. It has not mattered if I use the blue stuff (teflon) or regular grease. The splines are coated with some kind of blue stuff that does not come off. I suppose this coating wears and then the need for grease of some sort is more frequent.

 

i drilled the zerk fitting far enough to the end of the tube, close to the end of its "bottom out" measurement. in other words, i measured to the end of the tube (inside the tube) , then drilled just a little less than that measurement. the "male end" of the driveshaft with the splines does not obviously ride completely maxed out in the tube, otherwise the need for a splined sliding sleeve would not be needed. so at any given time, there is an air gap at the end of the tube, where the grease gets compressed in. and the grease does, in fact, get to the splines, as my experience working on Volvo 240 series cars (which have a similar setup, with a sliding driveshaft) the grease always makes its way to the splines. i will get pics up as soon as i can. i did not take any shots while it was apart, however. sorry. but i will point out the stuff that is important