Reminder - Grease your driveshaft

[TObject]

Just got a call from the driveshaft. shop. The centering kit has to be replaced on mine. Something has to do with rust or dirt, and a cracked U-joint cap. The guy who called, made it clear I don't grease those enough, especially on Jeeps where the driveshaft is short, and has to work hard.

Thus the reminder - grease your driveshaft.

[John]

Get a longer driveshaft?

[Scott Hill]

TO,

just make sure you are greasing your driveshaft in private

[TObject]

I have my driveshaft greased by professionals!

[Stu Olson]

Originally posted by TObject
I have my driveshaft greased by professionals!

Not sure if you are serious or not....but if you are, I wouldn't trust them (who ever it is) to do it right, unless it is one of your personal buds.

A friend of mine who has taken his TJ to the local Jeep dealer for the past 3 years for routine service found his rear drive shaft starting to come apart on his return trip from Moab. He limped it into Phoenix in 4WD without the rear drive shaft installed.

At the local 4x4 shop (known to be straight shooters), they checked out his rear CV drive shaft. The diagnosis....."I seriously doubt this drive shaft has seen a single drop of grease since it was installed with your SYE." Yep, he had assumed that the 5 star dealership was taking care of things every 3K miles when it went in for service.

[TObject]

Well, to be honest, I used to grease the slip yoke until I lost the grease fitting. After that I let it slide. I never greased the u-joints myself, as they have those weird needle type fittings.

The driveshaft shop I go to offers to grease the driveshaft for me for free time to time. It's just that I am too lazy to drive there until my driveshaft starts to really look sorry. My fault.

[Allen]

My front shaft has started squeaking.....what do I do?

Allen

[Croaker]

Originally posted by Allen
My front shaft has started squeaking.....what do I do?

Allen

Go to Stu's site for the writeup, of course....

Short version: Pull shaft, remove u-joints, disassemble CV joint centering ball, clean it out, grease it, put it all back together (all while NOT losing any needle bearings, of course! ).

But the next time I have to do it, it's getting a greasable centering ball so I don't have to go through all that.

[Allen]

Originally posted by Croaker
Go to Stu's site for the writeup, of course....

Short version: Pull shaft, remove u-joints, disassemble CV joint centering ball, clean it out, grease it, put it all back together (all while NOT losing any needle bearings, of course! ).

But the next time I have to do it, it's getting a greasable centering ball so I don't have to go through all that.

Um yeah.....

I looked at Stu's site.....

Like I have that kind of time right now.....

I'm already up and busy 20 hours a day.....

Am I doing serious damage? The squeek isn't bad, just annoying.

Can I shoot some lithium grease in the CV assembly and cross my fingers?

Anyone have a front shaft they don't need they'd be willing to give away for free and pay the shipping? (Poor Jeeper looking for handouts/freebies)



Allen

[TObject]

You definitely need to keep the centering ball greased. Otherwise, it doesn't feel good about itself and starts to slop.

[Chuck K.]

YEP< I know exactly what you mean.... I lost my grease needle sometime ago and kept hoping it would "reappear" in my garage... A year later I have a weird squeak and vibe. I knew what it was and bought a new grease needle and greased the cv ball and the ujoint closest to the xfer case. It bought me about a week then problems reappeared. Took the cv joint apart (real PIA) and found the ball badly worn and the small needle bearings in the pilot hole in bad shape... Its in the driveshaft shop now with new ball kit and 3 new spicer joints being installed, about $200.00 worth due to my procrastination

[Croaker]

If you don't anticipate needing 4wd anytime soon, what about just dropping the shaft & taking it to your local mechanic?