Topic: Don't Forget To Grease Your Jeep

[Mozman68]

So....was hearing a little bit of a rough sound from straight underneath me when I accelerated the rig...sounded just like an engine that wasn't taken care of, but not coming from the engine.

Was going out for lunch yesterday (was 40 miles from home) and it started sounding real bad, so I drove right over to the local Jeep dealer.

A couple of hours later they call me at work and tell me that the cardigan joint where the drive shaft meets the t-case is bad...and not to drive it anymore...and they can't work on it because it is a custom drive shaft.  I tell them to remove the drive shaft and I'll be over to pick it up.

While the rig was there they installed an O2 sensor I had....and they only charged me for that install...nothing else (which I thought was pretty cool for a dealer).

Locked the front, threw it in 4-hi and drove straight to the shop that built the drive shaft.  The builder claims the drive shaft should be greased at least every 3,000 miles...he says he will have it ready for me today and won't charge me any labor...just the parts (which JCR said they would reimburse me for!!).

Lesson learned....will grease every zirc on my rig after EVERY run and at least once a month just for the heck of it....grease is cheap.....me losing a drive shaft going down the highway at 70 mph would not have been cheap...or fun.

[oldjeep]

You wouldn't have lost the shaft.  The centering assembly just gets noisy if you don't grease them enough.  Costs $20 for a rebuild kit to fix the ball.

Just make sure that when you are greasing that you realize there are 3 grease points on that CV.  One one each u-joint and one tucked in between that lubes the centering assembly.

[Mozman68]

You wouldn't have lost the shaft.  The centering assembly just gets noisy if you don't grease them enough.  Costs $20 for a rebuild kit to fix the ball.

Just make sure that when you are greasing that you realize there are 3 grease points on that CV.  One one each u-joint and one tucked in between that lubes the centering assembly.

yeah...the one the requires the needle is the important one.

The risk I had was not so much in losing it, it was that it was so out of balance due to the slop that it could have really damaged the t-case.

$40 and it's fixed...picking it up this afternoon and I'll put it back on tonight.

[oldjeep]

yeah...the one the requires the needle is the important one.

The risk I had was not so much in losing it, it was that it was so out of balance due to the slop that it could have really damaged the t-case.

$40 and it's fixed...picking it up this afternoon and I'll put it back on tonight.

Don't your u-joints in the cv need a needle too?  Or did they somehow cram in joints with a zerk on the cross?

[neale_rs]

How does this needle work?  I have a CV DS with no zerks, figured it was not greasable.  Thanks

[Jeffy]

How does this needle work?  I have a CV DS with no zerks, figured it was not greasable.  Thanks

Some U-joints aren't greaseable.  When you put a U-joint with zerks, they usually end up hidden in the cage and you can't get the normal fitting in there.  So you use the needle and poke the checkball out of the way.

[Mozman68]

There are a couple of external zircs...I only saw the one that required a needle.  I'll take a pic of it when I pick it up in a couple of hours for reference.

[Bounty Hunter]

You wouldn't have lost the shaft.  The centering assembly just gets noisy if you don't grease them enough. 

The centering assembly has taken out many a CV driveshaft, usually destroying the transfer case along with it.  I see it often on front CV shafts due to a lack of maintenance, and ignoring the tell-tale chirping.

Not all centering balls are greaseable, best to get one that is.  The needle fitting for the grease gun is pressed firmly against the flush grease zerk and you pump in the grease.

Here's a great place for replacement parts, including serviceable centers and rebuild kits for CV joints. http://www.rockforddriveline.com/spicer.htm

[oldjeep]

Some U-joints aren't greaseable.  When you put a U-joint with zerks, they usually end up hidden in the cage and you can't get the normal fitting in there.  So you use the needle and poke the checkball out of the way.

The U-joints I use have a needle fitting on one cap.

[Mozman68]

I see it often on front CV shafts due to a lack of maintenance, and ignoring the tell-tale chirping.

Is that where that noise was coming from??
 

I can't wait to pick it up...probably looking all shiny and new...these guys clear coat them and they look really cool.

[Bounty Hunter]

The U-joints I use have a needle fitting on one cap.

That's a good type to get for a CV joint so you can grease them without removing the driveshaft.

Unpainted clearcoated shafts are cool.

[Mozman68]

Here's some pics of the shaft before I re-installed last night.




Here's a shot of the the flush zerc....he painted a nice arrow for me so it will be easy to find, although the angle of the shaft as installed and the fact that this part is just over the skid will still make it a challenge.


What a difference it makes to have this all tightened up....rig is driving like a dream now.

[neale_rs]

Thanks for posting the picture.  I'm going to check if my DS has something like that.

[Bounty Hunter]

Any idea what type of vehicle a CV shaft with an H-yoke of that style can be found in?  I saw one in another jeep the other day, and I believe that type CV has a wider operating angle than the shortened CV shaft from the front of an XJ or TJ.

[oldjeep]

Most of the non-spicer aftermarket pieces look like that. 

www.RockforDriveline.com  is one source:
http://rockforddriveline.com/4_H%20Yoke_End%20Yoke.pdf

I've got one of their parts on one of the CV shafts I built, looks just like the one in Moz's picture.
They don't give any greater range of motion, that is limited by the centering ball and pin.