mknittle

Not long a go I replaced the u-joints in Robin's Cherokee they were tight and had grease but had ridges from wear in the cups.

u2slow

I installed them in my stock driveshaft... if thats what you mean.

bigragu

KRB- I love my greaseless U-Joints. So, you see on the date of my original post was in 2014. I recently had my driveline off when I had my tranny off, and I opened up one of those spicer greaseless U-Joints, and saw no signs of lack of the factory grease, or any signs of contamination. The inside looked brand new, but the outside looked 2.5 years old.
About that same time, I had my front driveshaft rebuilt, so I now run a U-bolt style yoke also in the front, and not only did that get a spicer greaseless joint, but also at the joint where it connects to the transfercase. I had the pros at Sacramento driveline do that shaft, and those guys are all off Road dudes and they highly reccomended the greaseless joints. When I re did my whole front axle I went greaseless on those, too.
So, my only grease points are the zerks that grease the king pins, the drag link, sway bar, tie rod, and the zerks on the two drivelines.

I'm never going back to greaseable u-joints. I've heard a bad rap on the non spicer u- joints from folks on here, so whatever you choose, go spicer.

samiam4

The only advantage of the greaseable joint is if you are putting it in a really harsh enviroment, you have more ability to purge the joint. Spicer is the way to go for joints.
If you opt for their greaseable joints, they recommend chevron ultra #2 grease for the joints.
Since all my front end moog requires grease, it's not a big deal to shoot the 2 joints while I'm doing it. I don't find greasing pleasureable, but do it every 2-3,000 miles. The U-joints only take a few pumps to run clean.

bigragu

Samiam, thanks for your input, bro. To you, and all others in favor of greaseable U-joints, it truly is a personal preference. I've read folks say that the way gthose greasabkes are built, with the inner grease channel, that some caps don't get enough grease, and maybe one or two out of the four get all of the grease instead. Don't know if that's true, don't care, really. My thoughts are if that was such a fault the manufacturers would have either addressed that issue or just plain pulled them off of the shelves. I can only speak from experience, and those front axle u-joints were always a pain for me to get to the zerks. And although I did my best to grease those along with my driveline to yoke u- joints, in the end when I took them apart, some of the caps were bone dry and basically disintegrated.

Like I mentioned in one of my posts in this original tread back in 2014, the minute I took my truck for a test run after replacing the u-joints, a lot of the rumble, noise, and vibration had gone away, and it still is that way.
When a driveline shop highly recommends non greasables, that also says something.

ChrisLib

Get Spicer's if you can, jmho $.02 worth ymmv.

samiam4

Maybe it was miss-understood. I am in agreement with non-greasable spicer joints.

Proper greasing- according to spicer. Clean zerk fitting with a rag to remove dirt, install grease gun, slowly pump grease (chevron Ultra recommended), until clean grease comes out of all 4 seals. Wipe off excess.
If your not going to do this at every oil change. Use the no-greaseables. If you take a boat in the water, use the greasable joints. Regrease them after each boating event.

My only preference is to OEM spicer forged joints. They last a lot longer

bigragu

As a request, here are part numbers for all the U-Joints, in greaseless, required for our trucks. Included are also front axle rebuild kit numbers and U-Bolt style yokes if you choose to do this upgrade.

The greaseless u-joints needed for the transfercase to driveline and driveline to Dana70 yoke- Spicer 5-1410X.
The u- bolt style yokes- transfer case output: #300488.
At the Dana70 rear #PM-4-5711, 1410 series.

At front driveline, u-bolt style yoke is a #1350 series, and u- joints at both ends of driveline are Spicer 1350X.
For those that are unsure, the X means greaseless.

The part numbers on the yolks are the numbers from partsmike.com. The u-joint numbers should be universal.

The non greaseleable part numbers for the front axle of the Dana60 are from 4wheeldrivefactory.com, and they are Spicer #5-806X

For folks wanting to buy an all inclusive Dana60 kit, to do kingpins, axle seals, hub seals, Timken bearings, Spicer u-joints, etc., the kit was also from 4wheeldrivefactory, and that kit is part #SKU-D60-OH-VP-2.
When I priced this kit, it was cheapest with them, and cheaper to buy in kit form, rather than buying individual parts. Cost was $705. Pricey, but all quality parts from Spicer, Timken, and Yukon.

Ol-dodge 1992

Thanks ragu... anyone with a little time can do the foot work tracking down all those numbers... thanks for on top of it when you did your repair work ... taking note of part numbers and such keeping track ... it helps guys like me , just starting out, to save A LOT of time and hassle

Fellas , I don't know ragu or any of the rest of ya for that matter but that's what makes DTR great for all of us ... being willing to share what we know and what we've done

I can't tell you what I've learned from searching old threads ... things with my old piece I need to get done, some of the same issues or how to avoid an issue... and it's posts and threads just like this that work it all out

I only hope I can gain enough knowledge to start "helping out" sometimes... gotta keep part numbers, gotta note what I do and the results that follow, and now we have got the numbers for all u-joints for our old bricks in one convenient place

Thanks again ragu ... cause as soon as I get my tranny pan drained, plug installed, bands adjusted etc... ya know what's next no my list of over due things to address?!?!?

KRB

So any body know what size bolts those are that hold the u-joint straps on? 5/16" is too big, 9/32" is too small. It is a 6 sided bolt. Metric? 8mm is too small, 9mm too big.

Got the Spicers from Rockauto since NAPA her doesn't carry them anymore...

KRB

Best I can deduce is it's a 5/16 but takes a 6 point socket or box end?

edwinsmith

The bolts are available at O'Reilly's. The head is 5/16 and so is the bolt I think. I had to have some new ones for my trans swap last April. Use a 6 point socket 1/4 drive for the bolts and you will have less tendency to round them off.

Edwin

bigragu

This'll get any bolt out. Only tool you'll ever need in a toolbox

KRB

Edwin you are correct! After studying a little harder and deciding there couldn't be any other options I took a closer look at my Craftsman socket and it was split, letting it go around the bolt head. A quick run to Sears and I got another 1/4" drive 5/16 but 6 point this time. I got one out, barely. The next rounded over again. The third felt like it was going to... Good to know O'Reilly's has them, looks like I'm going to need them.

The first bolt had what appears to be blue thread locker on it. Should I heat the others? If I do that then I'll definitely have to replace the u-joint - even if I can't get the bolts off. And I need to make another 500 mile trip next weekend. Ug.

Bigragu, I'd use that wrench but the area is too confined to get the tool in on the bolt head. Besides, it doesn't appear that the ends are identified as metric or SAE so how would I tell them apart?

Well, at least I got the AC working so the wife won't pass out on the trip this time. Poor connection at the condenser relay thing at the passenger side cowl. I think that 9/10ths of these truck maladies can be fixed by fiddling with the electrical system sometimes. I thought it needed recharging but it was just sometimes kicking on.

bigragu

I've bought the bolts from O'rileys before I went to the U- bolt style saddle. Take both your old ones in, one at each side of the saddle. I believe one of them may be either a different thread pitch than the other, or a larger width of bolt. I was wondering why the HELP packets at NAPA and O'rileys have one of each size in their bubble packs. I know when I went home to install them, I accidentally used the larger of one on the wrong side, and it could hardly thread right in.