Universal Joint Grease

M

Mitch Newman

Member
I am going through a complete restoration of a 30 model std coupe. So the reassembly of the drivetrain is currently clean and dry. Reading Les Andrews mechanical book, he states that a "liberal amount" of grease should be pumped into the universal joint area. Just how much is a liberal amount. It looks like you could hold an entire tube of grease in there. How much have you guys used after a dry rebuild?
 
Greasing the U joint I use John Deer corn head grease and packed it the old TOM W way...see picture from another member who just greased his the same way... It will take a tube for sure
 

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No pack the U Joint directly with LOTS.. then add the inner cover..followed by hooking up the rear end and then add the clam shells! Make sure the inner cover's holes are facing 3 and 9.

I used corn head grease and it wasn't as thick as in the picture but I used a whole tube and made sure to pack the U joint good.
 
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I use almost a full tube to prepack the U-joint, then install the two gaskets and outer shell. The outer shell only needs a light coat of grease as shown in the second picture.
 
Tom,
Do you also pump grease into the grease fitting on the U-joint housing or is there enough as shown in the picture? If so, how much? It seems like the driveshaft roller bearing would need so grease also.
Rusty Nelson
 
wrndln said:
Tom,
Do you also pump grease into the grease fitting on the U-joint housing or is there enough as shown in the picture? If so, how much? It seems like the driveshaft roller bearing would need so grease also.
Rusty Nelson
Click to expand...

On this one I didn't give the zerk any more grease.
 
"Cornhead gease" is actually semi-fluid; it will slowly flow downhill, seeking it's own level, unlike the red high temp grease in the photos that will get slung out away from the u-joint and just sit there, not lubing anything. So when your A is parked for awhile, the cornhead grease oozes back around and into the u-joint.
 
40 Deluxe said:
"Cornhead gease" is actually semi-fluid; it will slowly flow downhill, seeking it's own level, unlike the red high temp grease in the photos that will get slung out away from the u-joint and just sit there, not lubing anything. So when your A is parked for awhile, the cornhead grease oozes back around and into the u-joint.
Click to expand...

I've heard that a few times, but I believe it to be an unproven theory. If it was true then the same could be said for the front wheel bearings, which I have lubed with the same Mystik JT-6 High Temp grease. Mystik is a very sticky grease and after 10 years both my front wheel bearings and U-joint are in perfect condition.
 
Ford specifies in the services bulletins for the AA trucks to pre pack the joint with 8 ounces of grease (about half a tube).

Ford specified to use “universal joint” grease which was 600w oil thicken up with sodium tallow soap. Ford also stated that the universal grease was not as thick as wheel bearing grease.

The specification I found for Universal Grease in the November 1932 Ford Service Bulletin has a ASTM Worked Penetration of 310-330 which equates to NGLI 1 “tomato paste” grease. The multi purpose grease used in wheel bearings is thicker, NLGI grade 2 grease.

Here's a chart of grease grades: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLGI_Grade

A lot of people use the John Deere "Corn head Grease" for the universal joint which is an NLGI grade is 0.

Here's a link for buying corn head grease:
http://www.greenpartstore.com/John-Deere-Special-Purpose-Corn-Head-Gun-Grease-AN102562.html
 
If you are using an original type rear transmission bearing [ un-sheilded] then transmission oil will find its way thru it and into to u-joint cover and mix with the grease making a nice sloppy goop [technical term]..
 
I use a sealed transmission bearing and heavy grease forms a cavity as mentioned. If you do not get oil from the transmission,John Deer cornhead grease works well.I have used it for 14,000 miles.

John
 
I mix up a 'slop' of heavy oil and grease and stick it in a dedicated grease gun.. I have not looked at the 'corn head grease'.. I guess it just goes to show that there really is more than one way to milk the cow..
 
I'm doing my 500 mile lube and wondered how many squirts I give the universal joint zerk. I was using regular lube grease in my gun. From above I should be using John Deere 'corn head grease' NLGI#0. Get a whole tube from Deere dealer and pump it in there? Have never had it apart and want to use the right stuff/amount during my maintenance.
 
TudooR31 said:
I'm doing my 500 mile lube and wondered how many squirts I give the universal joint zerk. I was using regular lube grease in my gun. From above I should be using John Deere 'corn head grease' NLGI#0. Get a whole tube from Deere dealer and pump it in there? Have never had it apart and want to use the right stuff/amount during my maintenance.
Click to expand...


Part of the problem is that many of us use modern sealed shaft bearings in the transmission which don't "leak" transmission 600wt grease into that area. Therefore the easiset way to ensure you are gtting enough grease is to remove the speedometer drive assembly and start filling the U-Joint cavity with grease. When it starts coming out of the speedo cap hole in the driveshaft torque tube, chances are it is full.
 
I pulled the screw out of the speedometer gear after assembly and pumped it up until it was coming out of the speedometer gear hole. I used a full tube of grease. Remember you want to have the upper roller bearing on the driveshaft lubed as well. I packed that before I installed it on the driveshaft and also filled the area between the u-joint and roller bearing where the speedometer gear resides.

edit - I guess I should hit refresh when I'm distracted from replying right away...
^What he said...;)
 
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