Best u-joint grease for me?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 1, 2011
Messages
260
Location
montana
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?
 
Mystik Hi-Temp is what you're looking for when it comes to a low-cost, yet high performance product in this application: "Spicer Universal Joint Division of Dana Corporations has approved Mystik JT-6 Hi-Temp Greases (Code 665005002) as having met M-2006-J specification for Hi-Temperature Lubricant."

$3.97/tube at Walmart. Valvoline SynPower does not carry this approval.

Make sure to completely purge old grease.
 
how often do you grease them? spicer says every 3k.i do mine atleast that often or more.imo having grease in them is more important than the type. i usually use a red grease but color dont matter. i just like seeing red i guess
 
Synpower is a good all round/universal grease IMO.

How did the u-joints go bad? Did the grease wash out, the bearings burn a flat spot, they just cracked, etc...???

Also what brand U-joint?
 
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Driveline-101.shtml

i doubt it's the grease, unless you didn't use any.

do you have a short bed truck with a single one-piece drive shaft?
it's most likely the ujoint operating angle is too extreme for the speed you use the truck at, see chart in link.

if you had a 5 foot drive shaft, 60", then your 4" lift will increase your u-joint operating angle by 3° and that's probably what's doing it. if you have a high rear axle ratio like 4.10 or higher then your drive shaft is spinning that much faster at highway speed and you're exceeding the capability of the u-joint.

you can't just look at it and say eh it looks ok, you have to get an inclinometer and measure it to know for sure.
 
Last edited:
It was measured by a friend of mine that has the tool to measure the driveshaft angle. I will call him and ask him to do it again and this time I will write down all the numbers from the measurement.
The truck is a single cab short bed. I can measure the length of the driveshaft tommorrow. It is a 2 piece driveshaft, it has a slip yoke that slides over some splines. The U-joints I was using were presicion brand u-joints. They lasted maybe a month and I greased them very good with the synpower grease.
This time I took my driveshaft to a driveline shop, they greased the splines gave me a new boot to go around where the piece slides over the splines. They installed me u-joints and balanced the driveshaft and the owner called me and said its ready and I asked what was wrong with it and he said nothing I balanced it and it's straight and ready to go with new u-joints.
I asked them to put life series spicer u-joints in it but they didn't do what I asked, they installed grease able neapco u-joints. I installed the driveshaft tonight and I greased the U-joints with some different grease, not sure what it is, I know it's red though, I will pull it out of the gun tommorrow to see what brand of grease it is.
Took the truck up the highway and it was smooth and felt good, it felt a hundred times better then it did. My only concern is for how long?
 
And my friend with the angle measure tool said the angles weren't too bad and that there shouldn't be any issues. I remember him saying that to me.
 
Originally Posted By: pjc360
I installed the driveshaft tonight and I greased the U-joints with some different grease, not sure what it is, I know it's red though, I will pull it out of the gun tommorrow to see what brand of grease it is.


06.gif
 
Try using the lubed for life joints. They work better. I worked for a trucking company that had all kinds of PTO issues until they changed over to the lubed for life U-joints. Also, there wasn't much if any angle on the shafts either. U-joints were serviced regularly using red grease (don't know the brand) and the shop foreman was baffled by the results.
 
Working%20Angles%20-%20Two-Piece%20Propshafts.jpg


fact is you raised the truck and if nothing else changed you increased your ujoint working angles.
having a 2 piece drive shaft and a short bed makes the geometry worst case.
what is your rear axle ratio?
 
Rear axle gear ratio is 3.55 and front axle gear ratio is 3.54, for now.
In the near future I'm going to re-gear with ether 4.10's or 4.56's.
I will have the angles measured again and report back what they are. I will try to get that done as soon as possible.
 
I have to rebuild the rzeppa joint in my Jeep. Should I use the grease that comes with the kit or is there something better?

The part will have a lifetime warranty.
 
I purchased a magnetic angle finder and measured the angle at both of my yokes where the rear driveshaft bolts too.
The yoke at the transfer case reads 85 degrees, the yoke at the rear axle reads 79 degrees.
So that's a 6 degree difference. Which isn't good right?
 
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Mystik Hi-Temp is what you're looking for when it comes to a low-cost, yet high performance product in this application: "Spicer Universal Joint Division of Dana Corporations has approved Mystik JT-6 Hi-Temp Greases (Code 665005002) as having met M-2006-J specification for Hi-Temperature Lubricant."

$3.97/tube at Walmart. Valvoline SynPower does not carry this approval.

Make sure to completely purge old grease.


This is exactly what I would recommend also. I use it for everything automotive.
 
How are my angles between yokes? Is having a 6 degree difference enough to cause an issue with the u-joint at the transfer case.
 
Last edited:
I've also had U joints fail from wear after greasing very often. I used CASE (tractor) grease. I'll look at the tube tmrw.
 
How is the Napa brand premium grease? I bought a tube of that for 3 bucks and greased everything on my truck with it. I made sure to purge out all the old grease.
It says it's a lithium grease and it's clear. Says made by Ashland so it's a valvoline grease in a Napa grease tube? I put it in all my u-joints and in my tie rods and drag link and it doesn't say it has moly in it. I was looking for a moly free grease for the u-joints.
I want a grease I can out in everything so I don't have to have 2 different grease guns. Is this grease good stuff?
 
Another vote for Mystic High-Temp grease for the U-Joints. I use it on my plow trucks and daily drivers. I use the Mystic grease with Moly for any slip joints. Good stuff.

Nuff said,

xtell
 
Originally Posted By: pjc360
How is the Napa brand premium grease? I bought a tube of that for 3 bucks and greased everything on my truck with it. I made sure to purge out all the old grease.
It says it's a lithium grease and it's clear. Says made by Ashland so it's a valvoline grease in a Napa grease tube? I put it in all my u-joints and in my tie rods and drag link and it doesn't say it has moly in it. I was looking for a moly free grease for the u-joints.
I want a grease I can out in everything so I don't have to have 2 different grease guns. Is this grease good stuff?


The Napa grease is good stuff. My research found that the napa premium grease is just Valvoline general multi-purpose grease without the red or yellow dye added to it. My experience with Valvoline general purpose and Synpower is that they are excellent general purpose greases but they do separate a fair amount and have poor wash out resistance.

Mystik Jt-6 hi temp wheel bearing grease from wal-mart is a better choice overall. It separates less, is more sticky/tacky and resists wash out better than Valvoline/Napa general purpose.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top