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U-joints: heavy duty vs. greasable.

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Brhino 
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#1 ·
Which would you get? I just replaced a BruteForce brand heavy duty joint because it dried up (nongreasable). I was told that there is no such thing as a heavy-duty greasable joint. You can only have one or the other. So, which would you rather have? The ability to know that it's well greased, or the added strength?
 
#2 ·
1. Heavy duty don't do a lot of good if it:
a. Dries up.
b. Fills with mud.
c. Cap/race starts rusting.
2. IMHO... greasable is the ONLY way to go.
a. Put it on a preventative maintance schedule...
i. Grease it every 6 moths,
ii. after ALL water crossings.
iii. After playin' in the mud.
iv. with every oil change.
v. Change out when necessary BEFORE failure.
3. Keep it:
a. Full of grease.
b. Assure the driveline angles are within rotational spec.
4. And the U-joint will last a good long time!
5. And you shouldn't have to beat it out to replace it (always a plus).

Then there's the best of both worlds...

1. Drill the body of the heavy duty U-joint with a 1/16" hole to all four cap areas.
2. Campher the holes.
3. Drill down into the body of the U-joint and to the fill hole and install a zerk fitting.
4. Now this will ruin the warrany and may weaken the U-joint... but hey, at least you'll be able to easily grease the little buggers.
 
#3 ·
Not sure which u joint you need, but I wouldn't touch anything other than greasable.

Find a helpful Spicer dealer, one that knows his parts. Spicer has some nice u joints that while they are more than the parts house brand, are superior. I got joints for my jeep that are spicer brand and have 4 grease nipples. One on each cap. I've tried the ones that have a nipple on only one cap and it is very difficult to get grease to all four caps thru the cross drilling. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link. This four cap part is worth every penny. Was about $35.00 each, but easy to grease no matter what position the shaft is in, and I have found that all my fail u joints were due to lack of lube, even though I grease them. That cross drilled, one nipple on one end only joint was the worst. How can I collect on the "Lifetime Warranty" when they will tell me it was clearly my failure to lubricate them. See if you can find the spicer joint I am referring to for your application, and you will make maintenance easy and effective.
 
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