What I read.......I'm no mechanic

Non grease able are stronger.....keep out the elements better..more $$$

Zerk grease fittings not as strong...drilled out for the grease to channel into the bearings..less $$

My ole '02 Chevy....sealed U joints.....20 YO not a minutes worth of trouble or noise

Thoughts ??????

Greaseable for replacement joints.

Hands down.

The factory non greaseable joints in your car last a long time because of perfect alignment.

I like to be able to grease mine

^^^^^This^^^^^ New trucks pretty much have sealed units, when you replace them ask for real universal joints with zerk fittings.

Do the shops not do perfect alignment ?

Tikka asked a question I’ve wondered about for awhile.

Fingers crossed the guys doing the oil change hit all the zerks….


Wish there was an emoji beside a name so a guy knew he was on ignore lol

so they built my '02 Chebby correctly eh ?

sure wish'd it got 24 mpg though (got 285's on 'em now)

tell Sam I ran outta tire shine fur this pic

Not really.

Not unless they chuck em up and spin and balance them.

I suppose it depends on if you’re actually going to grease them.

Toyoda...

requires NLG1 # 2

for you tech guys

over......

LMFAO

good answer..........

I take care of my schhidt

OK.........

My '18 Kawi Teryx 4x4 SxS

no zerks........

run the schidt ouuta it in the desert

amongst the BFR's

I've often wondered that also. I've seen sealed u-joints that literally decades old.

watch the vid ?

No one asked ?

>>>>>>>>>>BFR ?<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Utah has many BFR's

That makes perfect sense cuzzin'.



And is why we grease the U-joints on various PTO drive shafts every 20-50-500 hours-etc. depending....



Can't remember the last time I gave my F350 a shot of grease anywhere... Probably why the front end is getting wonked out...

technical term in geology/geomorphology/hydraulics/sediment transport

THAT!

That Chevy is begging for a (short)Hydrabed.


Just sayin'...

tikkanut;
Good afternoon to you sir, I hope the weekend has been a good one for you and you're well.

Thanks for the interesting thread and thanks to those who've responded.

When I was chatting about this to the mechanic I take our '03 Dodge to for stuff I don't want to mangle myself, he said he's now gone entirely to sealed UJoints because he's found they last longer.

The other thing he mentioned was that most people have good intentions when installing greaseable ones - myself among those folks with the best intentions of course - but that in reality they/I didn't grease them often enough.

He agreed with your video chap too in that they don't seal good enough in slush and salt winter conditions, but the sealed ones he gets do.

For the life of me I can't recall which brand he prefers, but they weren't inexpensive for sure. That said, his shop rates aren't free either, so as he says it's cheaper to put in better parts and have my rig up on his hoist less.....

He's a painfully honest man, my mechanic...

All the best in the upcoming week tikkanut.

Dwayne

Greaseable. It helps when you can use arctic-grade grease in sub-arctic country.

Most folks don't grease enough. Myself included

I change more greasable ujoints than sealed ones. And chances are the sealed one's getting changed out, are factory originals with a lot of miles on them.

Also for whatever reason. The grease able u joints are way easier to tip over a needle bearing when your installing it.

It’s been a lot of years since I’ve replaced a u-joint, probably since they started sealing them. I usually only put 100k to 150k on a vehicle now also but I can recall replacing u-joints at lower mileage than that back in the day. I can also recall drilling out spotted holes to put in zerks to lube front ends back in the transition years when manufacturers were going sealed but we didn’t trust them. I’ve got a couple of grease guns still, but since leaving the farm I only use them for boat trailer wheel bearings.

As a mechanic I recommend sealed. Stronger, better seals and most people don't grease their u joints anyways. Seen a lot of dried out, worn out old greaseable u-joints, most sealed are in pretty good shape.

sealed joints last longer

ok.........

I just wonder some times when I'm in BFE Utah.......

100 miles from any service......

Let alone AAA getting near you......

May not be as remote as BC CA....

but long fuggin walk back to anywhere

But I do drive a Toyoda...............................................(:

there ya go !

The non-greasable u-joints in my 2000 Toyota Tundra lasted 395,000 and they were still going until the carrier bearing gave up first. Had the whole thing rebuilt at that point.

BTW the non-greasable front wheel bearings lasted a little longer. The left side just went out at about 396,000 so I replaced both of them.

This has been my work truck for several years , trying to keep miles off my 2014 Ford F150 4x4.

the

Toyoda.........

Ole Salty will LOL

I like the grease-able ones, I just greased them before I posted to prove that some guys do grease theirs lol. I want greasers for my front axles too.
Flame on lol.

So was there ever really a question? Or is this just another opportunity for you to remind everybody that you drive your toyota on dirt roads?

For those saying not greased enough, is that often enough, enough at one time, or both?

Not often enough, i would say. I change a ton of them. And most are dry.

And almost nobody greases the center bearing on the double cardan joint

And with moly for the double-cardan joint. At least that's what mine calls for. But I break the law and use non-moly on all.

#ungreasable

Ag equipment such as swathers, hay balers, etc, etc. Greaseable without a doubt.

Automobile.
Sealed.

I have sealed in my two older cars.

can see your posts anymore so save your time responding

I think that answers my question

Non grease-able Spicer please.

Non greaseable and ungreases greaseable last about the same length of time.

Seals are way different between the 2

Seals seam to matter less than balance and alignment.

It amazes me how crooked a factory driveline is. Weights all over the fugger trying to get it close. Dodges have been the worst

I haven't changed mine on my F-150 w/190K miles.

Myself I stick with the same parts that the vehicle came with when possible. Came with sealed, sealed will be the replacement part.

Although when I had the front-end redone Moog parts were used, I couldn't find the rubber boots and it drives me crazy seeing the open joints and such.
Anything that keeps dirt out is a good thing.

How do you guys determine when U-Joints are worn out?

Play in them obviously. But alot of times they will take on a tanish dusty look as they start getting hot

tikkanut;
Good evening to you again, thanks for the reply.

I've enjoyed your photos of the Utah backcountry as it's so very different from what we've got up here anywhere.

We're usually out of cell service here in BC and sorta used to it. There isn't good cell service in all spots down in the Okanagan Valley which is the second most populated area in BC, so that sort of says volumes about Canadian rural cell coverage.

That said, most places we hunt wouldn't be 100 miles to walk out, though 50 would be not uncommon.

Scenery photo just because - we're maybe 3 or 4 hours walk out here if the truck breaks.



The other thing that I find interesting about watching videos like Fab Rats or Matt's Off Road Recovery is that there's actually someone to call to come get one out of a fix. That's not an option here in our part of BC, so if you aren't prepared to walk out and use the "call a friend" option - well that's your only option actually.

Anyways as always there's many roads that lead to Mecca and all that - some likely driven with rigs powered with greaseable u-joints no doubt.

All the best and thanks again.

Dwayne

Those greaseable U joints have to be installed/orientated correctly for best strength... Ii's easy to install them backwards... Something to do with the orientation of the zerk hole... It's been awhile, I forget the details... Look it up...

Never heard that one before. Install them in backwards and it can be a bitch to grease though

mud bogger,

Thanks, mine are tight, no heat coloring.
Sometimes it's hard to believe how long parts last compared to cars/trucks from the 60-70-80's era. When JAA-pan started taking a major cut of the automotive market from the American manufacturers they got on the ball with long-lasting vehicles.

On the lift, if I see that color its just kinda a red flag, as bearings dont get that hot if things are good. The yoke will be that color as well sometimes


I see alot of rigs come in with 225k+ on factory ujoints. Which are mainly sealed spicers. Buy them from the dealer and they are just repackaged spicers

Just looked it up... For maximum U joint strength you want the grease zerk under compression by the driveshaft as it is turning to move the vehicle...

Interesting..gotta link?

No, I just googled it... I have the internet skill of Jed Clampett...

LOL, copy

How would it not be under compression? The damn thing is spinning

I don't know what this means ?

Reading a bit. Seems you want your driveline yoke to be turning into the zerk. Not sure if I buy it. Seems like people nit picking schit that doesnt really matter

Yeah, It confuses me also but it made sense when i did it... Got this from hot rod magazine tech tips yrs ago... Seen it written and online many times since...

Im always up to learn something new. But that just seems like a few folks coming up with fixes to things that have never happened.

I think it was with the instructions with the last set of U joints i installed?.. I don't remember the brand... Might have been Strange Engineering in IL... Not sure...

I do enough pickup axles, driveline, and gears but I'm no mechanic on these just an observer. I've used and worked on machinery and in industry be it ag, excavation, process equipment, mining and the like they use greasable u-joints, pins, pillow blocks. It's just not true that an sealed joint is more durable on an light duty vehicle. That not the case.

On passenger vehicles it comes down to preference. If your ok with getting under a vehicle every 3k or 4k miles and giving it one or two pumps of grease everything will be just fine but let's be honest and admit most folks don't do this. That's the reality.

U-joints are pretty cheap and easy to replace units on light duty vehicles. The real suck comes along with vehicles in the rust belt when you tear into hubs, transaxle, and ball joint jobs. Those are fun especially AWD type cars and SUV''S like those Subarus. Hate those jobs and they'll have you using curse words that aren't yet invented.

We have a machine shop that presses in new U joints. He only uses Spicer U joints that are greaseable. He says they are the best there is. You nust grease a greaseable U joint. Some people never grease anything. I was always taught to maintain your equipment and it will last a looooong time.

my 88 4 Runner, came with a manual 5 speed and the 22 RE engine from the factory...

it also has greasable u joints.... they get greased every 10K, and years ago I was told the best to use was the red color grease, which is what farmers in the Midwest use the most of.. haven't had any U joints needing replacement since I've owned the truck new.. when it had 2 miles on the clock, I took possession of it... Sept 87..

In August 2021, its parked at the place with just short of 590,000 on the odometer...

Guess what I've been doing over the years is working out okay, on the driveline.

What is the difference in labor over the life of a non-grease u joint vs the greasing at prescribed intervals of greased u joints? Is changing non-greased joints after 120k miles.cheaper than greasing at prescribed intervals?

last time I replaced one it was $1 more for a greasable one... of course sometimes getting on the zerc fitting requires jacking up and down..... Mopar used the CV style joints instead of u-joints for a while. I think that they went back..

Ssealed or greasable! Do most people keep autos long enough to care? I prefer greasable, I keep things for a long time!

If you have a vehicle so equipped you should have it lubed every time you change your oil . 5k

I've never had a vehicle with greaseable u-joints and the few u-joints that a I have changed were just to prevent future problems on high mileage vehicles. I drove my '68 El Camino 140k before I parked it in 1978 and when I disassembled it a few years the original u-joints were still good (I will replace them). I drove my full time 4wd '78 Chevy truck almost daily from '78-'99 and didn't replace the u-joints until I converted it to part time 4wd in 1998. They still looked good.

And now days you get into alot of the non serviceable stuff. Staked in U-joints, Carrier bearings that cant be removed. One of those goes out and its sure as hell not going to be a $100 fix

The first few vehicles I owned did not have zerk-greasable U-joints (sealed had not yet been invented) and so we had to remove and repack them by hand every so often. Since 1954 I have owned and maintained a lot of vehicles, and now drive several that are more than 50 years old.

Some of our vehicles have 350k and even more miles on them. I have NEVER had a drive line U joint fail on any of them - closing in on 70 years of driving. Just keep them greased. I did hear a noise coming from the front of an old 4wd Chev, and discovered something I never knew existed - a double cardan joint twixt TC and front diff. Needed lube and was able to save it.

As for sealed non-greasable components, I am no expert and have only owned a couple of vehicles having those. And, that is where failures have occurred. Carrier bearing on big pickup, sealed front hubs hubs on modern 4wd, and what next? Maybe the first U joint fail?

A 2006 GM dually takes the same u joint as a 1981 Blazer. Put Strange racing u joints in your vehicle and don't worry about u joints anymore.

Most all the equipment you mention with greaseable u-joints are probably on a service schedule. Equipment I work on gets the u-joints greased every 5500 miles. We hardly ever replace u-joints. Most personal vehicles might get a oil change when the light or warning goes off. If someone is relying on the person doing their oil change to grease everything... well...

Solids. I’ve snapped front axle U joints that were greasable. Finally changed out my 06 dodge u-joints last fall. They were rusted so badly that I cut yoke and used a 100 ton press to get them out of the shafts. The needle bearings were still ok after 90k miles and 15 years. Perchance a solid starts to die, they’ll usually squeak a bunch beforehand.

Dodges are hard on stuff, for what ever reason. More so than the other rigs

Yes they are. It's easy to see why as the ball joints geometry makes it fight against itself.

Greasable. I grease them every 10,000 miles when I change my oil. 2012 Toyota Tacoma with 200k hard miles on the original u joints BTW.

The hardest thing on Ujoints is to have the geometry of the opposing faces not measured and adjusted properly. The front pinion flange and the rear of the transmission should be within 2-3 degrees of each other for long Ujoint life and reliable drive line performance. A lot of guys with jacked up trucks and other "enhancements" don't know this or forget to adjust their differential angle and end up breaking parts that don't need to ....

Here's a quick PSA for those of you with greaseable zircs.



You know how sometimes zircs get plugged with grit / grime / dried grease, and it's impossible to get them to break loose and accept new grease? No matter how hard you squeeze on the grease gun lever handle?

PITA, isn't it?



Well - simply wipe a tad bit of grease on the tit of the zirc just before you sell the vehicle, to make it look like you really take good care of your shít.



This concludes your PSA for the day - carry on.