My E-Locker, LS, 4.56 gears, and install kit comes today and now I'm gathering the supporting parts( u-bolts, u-joints, lube...). With u-joint prices ranging from $9.95 to 24.95 each, my question is this:
Which u-joints are worth their salt and which should I avoid?

Thanks,
Steve

 

personally i think they are all the same. and getting some with zirk fittings is the most important so you can keep them greased. if your wheeling much i would rather a ujoint go then anything else so standard ones are fine. easier to repair on the trail as well.

 

I use Spicer u-joints in my 4x4 trucks. I use Spicer greasable-thru-cap u-joints in my front axleshafts.

 

I've got the Dana/Spicer sealed U joints, (installed by previous owner) and they have worked great for me. I've heard that they are better than the greasable ones since water and other containaments can't get inside of them.

 

I would use NON-greasable spicer U joints. Every time I have had or seen a U joint fail it always uses the small hole drilled through the cross to start the crack. Every time. Just look at any broken one, they break along the grease hole.
Non-greasable U joints have many advantages;
First of all they don't need to be greased. And while greasing them is not a big deal, I hate doing it. You also dont get grease slung all over the frame and bottom of the body from the U joint. I have an old Ford truck with 9 greasable U joints and they have lines of grease slung all over the underside from the last 30 years. Its a big mess.
Second, the non greasable U joints are stronger for reasons already mentioned.
Third the seals on non greasable U joints are much better than the greasable seals. Just look at any one of them and feel how much tighter they fit when you are assembling the U joint.
Most U joint bearing failure is started from a bad seal. And its not because it lets the grease out, its because it lets water and junk in. This is why with greasable U joints they always have to be greased to pump all that crap out. Have you ever noticed when you routinley grease them water and discolored grease comes out? Thats why I would rather have a non greasable joint with the tighter seals.
I have taken many non greasable U joints apart with 100,000 miles on them and the grease still looks like the day I put them together. No water, dirt, or discoloration in there at all.
And, they are going to last you a good long time if the driveline is operating at the correct angles. I have had many go 200,000 miles without a single problem. Others I have replaced were sooner than that, but for other reasons not because they wore out. Things like replacing yokes from maxing out the angles, breaking them, or doing other driveline modifications.

On the front axle most greasable U joints are going to have the grease fitting on the cap, so there is no hole drilled through the cross. But even on the front axle I would still have the non greasable U joints because for the reasons I already stated. Especially because of how much of a mess the greasing is on the U joint in a place where its difficult to clean the grease up, like inside the nuckle. And also because of the better seals.
One exception I have for a greasable front U joint is I really like is the CTM U joint. There not for everybody because most people don't want to spend that much money on a U joint, and some 4 wheel drive systems don't work well with them, but for some trucks, depending on what its used for, they are great. You won't find one thats stronger, the seals are so tight it sometimes is near impossible to squeeze grease in them. I have had to put 100 or more pounds of force on the grease gun to get a little in. But if I didn't need the strength of CTM, I would surley go with a non greasable U joint there to.

The greasable U joint has one advantage, and that is it potentilly can last forever, but ONLY if; its greased regularly, its not taken off road where mud, dirt and water can effect the seals and contaminate the grease, and on a low operating angle, with correct geometry.
But still, If I can get, at the very least, 100,000 miles out of non greasable Spicer U joint I would gladly do that instead of running the greasable joints.