Best u-joint grease for me?

[gamefoo21]

I have the most failure prone driveshaft of them all... The evil ZQ8 S10/Sonoma two piece with dual double-cardon equipped shaft. It has 5 u-joints and two ball + socket joints... It all has to be greased every 5000 km. I pack every joint with Redline CV-2, and call it a day. Stupidly expensive to rebuild shaft, and it loves to smash out the babbits in the sockets and wear the balls funny... Got 20,000 on the new everything, and it still feels like it did when it got balanced.

 

[another Todd]

I wouldn't worry about moly in u-joints. Some say use it others say don't. I used moly fortified grease for everything including u-joints for many years and never had any problems. Then a few years ago I switched everything to Mystic (non-moly), I like the tackyness, it stays where you put it for longer than other greases.

 

[ofelas]

I use Spicer calcium-sulfonate grease - the kind thats already inside the Spicer Life U-joints :-D For zerks & bearings - I use Amsoil multi NLGI#2 - also calcium sulfonate based now.

 

[pjc360]

I noticed spicer makes a synthetic grease, but wow is it expensive at around 15 a tube, I've even seen it for 20 dollars a tube.

 

[ofelas]

Going by the specs, seems to be a good quality grease, got a couple tubes given to me by my local heavy equipment Spicer drivetrain dealer. I'm quite happy with the open tube of Amsoil Multipurpose NLGI #2 I have.

 

[Al]

From my old working days as a maintenance supervisor in a Power Plant...I found Exxon Unirex grease can be used in almost any possible application. It is about as good as it gets in high temp and high moisture conditions. http://thelubricantstore.com/exxon-unirex-ep-2-10x1.html We used the Unirex N greases and even though not advertised in that area they performed in EP applications. I didn't realize they now have Unirex EP

 

[ac_tc]

It wont help with grease. Its the anlge thats destroing your joints. 6 degrees may be to much, check an fsm but its more likely your lift kit has put to much angle into the drive shaft. Note that the fsm angle rec may be completely wrong in your modified truck but the value should probably somewhere near. The 4*4 wrangler Community may know more about this.

 

[SOHCman]

If this wasn't happening before the lift, I would say that is the common denominator.

 

[Trav]

Talk to a drive shaft shop about a double cardan joint at the front of the rear shaft after the carrier bearing..

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Can you get a picture? 6 degrees is too much for a single u joint if you run it at any sort of RPMs at all ... if you have that going on at each end, you're definitely going to have some issues killing U Joints. Don't know what you have for gearing in the truck or tire size, but 6 degrees on each U Joint and highway speeds will cause problem. I agree with Trav. Go for a double cardan setup at the transfer case / carrier bearing and point the pinion yoke right at it ... it's leaf springs so it's just a matter of finding the right angled wedge to stick under the leaf pack. That way, the 2 u joints in the double cardan will be doing 3 degrees each.

 

[Number_35]

Would it be possible to put a spacer under the centre hanger to drop it slightly? That would decrease the 6 degree angle.

 

[Trav]

You will loose some drive shaft end play doing that.

 

[nuffsaid]

Originally Posted By: pjc360

I have a 1991 dodge power ram 150 4x4 truck. I wanted to use 1 grease for everything on this truck and I ended up choosing valvoline synpower grease. Now over the last couple years I have trashed u-joints on my rear driveshaft left and right. Person at the driveline shop dpsaid it could be from my 4 inch suspension lift kit. So I had a friend check out the angle of my driveshaft and he said it looks fine to me, he said I don't see any steep angles that would cause a u-joint to fail early. So now I have been wondering, is it the grease I have been using? Valvoline synpower grease says its moly fortified and I have heard a lot of ppl say no moly in u-joints. Could this be what's going on?

All u joints are not created equal. In my world, it is Spicer or nothing. Precision are junk, neapco are not much better. That being said, if you are eating u joints, you need to examine some other parts. First, take a new quality spicer u joint and put it in the yoke on the rear axle and tighten the straps or u bolts, see if the u joint moves freely. If it binds, replace the yoke! Repeat on the transfer case yoke. Now to address your u joint angles. Most lift kits use tapered rear lift blocks to lessen u joint angles. This causes a problem in that it creates unequal angles on the u joints. To operate properly the u joint angle needs to be within around 2 degrees from front to back. To check this angle, find a flat surface on the back of the transfer case, place the angle finder on this flat area and record the reading. Next go to the rear of the axle housing, usually placing the angle finder over the head of two bolts will work. These two readings need to be within about 2 degrees of each other. Machining the taper out of the blocks is one way to make the angles closer. A better way is to keep the tapered rear blocks and have a constant velocity drive shaft made.

 

[anndel]

Use the grease that came with it. That way if it breaks and covered under the lifetime warranty, you can say you used the grease that came with it. Using other greases are fine but if the company is a stinker, they could say you didn't use our grease so the warranty is void.