Greasing the u-joint

Dino's A

Dino's A

Senior Member
Ok so here's what I'm looking for-

A. How do I tell if there is enough grease at the joint.

B. How do I tell if I have pumped enough grease in.

C. Can I tell by the speedometer gear area
or separating the U-Joint halves as any indication?

Or is it simple as un-bolting the halves and inspect?
 
Here's what I think I know: Remove the speedometer "turtle" from the bottom of the torque tube. Pump your grease. When you start to see grease coming into that turtle hole, stop.
 
Me too, I used a whole tube of John Deere Cornhead grease. Like wrndln said. Just dont know what kind of grease other people use.
 
bruceincam said:
Here's what I think I know: Remove the speedometer "turtle" from the bottom of the torque tube. Pump your grease. When you start to see grease coming into that turtle hole, stop.
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I’m working on that on my car now. It looks like mine I going to take more than a tube of grease. I need to take another look at it when it’s warm again. I’ll probably add some more—I don’t see grease coming from the speedometer gear hole, and I’ve already pumped a little more than a tube of grease into the universal joint cavity.


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Takes at least a tube, it fills the clamshell and should stay there if your gaskets are good. I would say you have plenty in there and I would stop now. Dont know the history of the ujoint area such as gaskets and seals, so I would stop there.
 
shew01 said:
I have the same question. Is it possible to force too much grease into the universal joint cavity?


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Every thing is possible. If you remove the speedometer gear housing, and grease starts coming out, you have done your job.

Excess grease and oil goes down the torque tube.

You would have to really put a lot of grease into the u-joint fitting for it to create a problem. But, again, anything is possible.

In this case more is not better!

Enjoy.
 
Changing out the "hold on" grease fitting with a modern self-retaining unit and using a pneumatic grease gun will simplify the job.
 
Ford didn't use a regular chassis type grease in there since the U-joint just pushes it out of the way and it doesn't get into the bushings like it should. Ford used a mixture of soda soap and gear oil to make a slurry that would be as close to thixotropic as they could get back then, ie a lubricant that could penetrate the bushings. The John Deere corn head gearbox grease is a modern thixotropic grease that will stay in the lower half of the housing but be liquid when things start moving in there. Once the level is over half full, it starts to move down the drive shaft tube. This is why the speedo drive head needs to be removed so a person can tell its getting full enough in there. If a person pumps chassis grease in there, it will fill the housing all the way full before it comes out the speedo drive slot.
 
rotorwrench said:
Ford didn't use a regular chassis type grease in there since the U-joint just pushes it out of the way and it doesn't get into the bushings like it should. Ford used a mixture of soda soap and gear oil to make a slurry that would be as close to thixotropic as they could get back then, ie a lubricant that could penetrate the bushings. The John Deere corn head gearbox grease is a modern thixotropic grease that will stay in the lower half of the housing but be liquid when things start moving in there. Once the level is over half full, it starts to move down the drive shaft tube. This is why the speedo drive head needs to be removed so a person can tell its getting full enough in there. If a person pumps chassis grease in there, it will fill the housing all the way full before it comes out the speedo drive slot.
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Is corn head grease compatible with traditional chassis grease? Can I start using corn head grease without removing the chassis grease?


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It might just be my experience, but even with new clam shell gaskets, after filling with grease I only have to drive a few miles at highway speed and I have globs of grease out the back of the clam shell.
 
OL JENNY said:
It might just be my experience, but even with new clam shell gaskets, after filling with grease I only have to drive a few miles at highway speed and I have globs of grease out the back of the clam shell.
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Hmm… That’s good to know. It sounds like I need to finish putting the car together and take it for a short spin before continuing to add grease.


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Thank You all for the help. I'm a little surprised that Les Andrews never
covered the procedure. I have the Red cover one. Did he write another
edition I'm not aware of?
Thanks again,
Dino Falabrino
Arcadia Ca.
 
shew01 said:
Is corn head grease compatible with traditional chassis grease? Can I start using corn head grease without removing the chassis grease?
Click to expand...

Doesn't look like it.

"When comparing a polyurea grease to a lithium-complex grease, the biggest drawback is that polyurea thickeners are quite incompatible. This incompatibility can cause hardening or softening of the grease.
Grease softening can lead to several issues, such as not allowing for proper lubrication of rollers. Additional grease must then be supplemented to maintain the appropriate lubrication until the incompatible mixture is displaced.
Hardening of the grease can result in even worse problems, since the grease can no longer flow into the bearing cavity, leaving the bearing starved for lubrication.
However, polyurea thickeners do offer some advantages over lithium thickeners. For instance, polyurea greases are often the preferred choice for sealed-for-life applications. These greases tend to have high operating temperatures, inherent antioxidative properties, high thermal stability and low bleed characteristics."
https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/31367/using-polyurea-grease
 
In my experience, most model A service manuals leave something to be desired. Les' book is not inclusive to all model A differences. The book only covers the "common" configurations of components to a large degree. There is little information about the early cars with multi plate clutches, powerhouse generators, or equalizing brake systems. Illustrations are OK but not always informative enough. Photographs are non-existent. A good picture can be worth a thousand words. Overall, the book is usable and still worth having but it could have been better.
 
Alright then how would I go about getting the grease out of the clamshell so that I can put the John Deere corn head grease in. Wouldn't I have to remove the rearend to be able to get to everything for cleaning. I don't see how it could be done otherwise.
 
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