Front driveshaft U-joints greased.

[Motorhead]

Anyone know the Napa P/N for the needle fitting?

Juanito,
715-1251 is the NAPA number for the LONG needle. The AUTOMATIC trucks are alot easier to get to the cardan joint than our G56 trucks. You really need to have the front axel in the air so you can turn the driveline.

Did you get your SBDD clutch in yet???

 

[Loren]

OK. This thread has been going for quite a while.

Since I'm coming up on my first oil change soon I'm wondering how many have just not lubed this PIA fitting?

Any failures? I'm thinking that the dealers would know about that fitting/grease point pretty quick if they were having to replace those joints.

FParisi,



My 2008 truck has 44,000 miles and I have never greased the fitting. (More on that in my next post. ) So far, there is no indication that anything is ready to fail. If (When?) it does, I'll replace it with a joint that is easily greasable.



-- Loren

 

[Loren]

Today I had my front driveshaft off to replace the front seal on the differential.

I am here to tell you that there is no place to grease the CV jts. It was inspected very carefully. I had a picture of the CV joint with me for reference.

I'm with you, Jack. I looked and looked for that dimple. I finally took the driveshaft off the transfer case so I could move the joint around and see better. I'm absolutely certain that my truck does not have a place to grease anything on the cardan joint.



For what it's worth, my truck DOES have the sticker under the hood telling me that I must grease the non-existing fitting at every oil change.



The next time I'm at the dealer, I'm going to have someone show me where it is. I'll bet he can't find it either.



-- Loren

 

[Kent Kuykendall]

hhhmmm. . in the past, I've purchased u-joints that the crosshead wasn't tapped for a grease zerk, but the crosshead had the grease passages drilled in it... I always drill and tap one of the joint caps and install a 1/16 npt grease zerk... . Easy to get to for maintenance, no special needle fitting required...

Now thats a good idea

 

[seafish]

Will a zerk fitting actually fit up in the 3rd gen cardan joint without getting sheared off at different driveline angles ??

 

[abdiver]

Napa part #700-1193

FYI Napa part #700-1193 does not fit this grease fitting. The needle is too large to fit in the hole.

Well that's the one that worked for me, Though I did have to work at it I did remove the skid plate and had to get the angle just right before it place grease inside of joint and not on its exterior.

 

[ringneck]

thanks for the picture and tool number. gary

 

[macdaddy]

I took my truck to the dealer for it's semi-annual free oil change and lube under the free oil changes for 7 years. I told them that my truck had the grease fittings on the front driveshaft U-joints and showed them the sticker in front of the radiator that describes that. They tried to tell me that there were no greased fittings on the front driveshaft U-joints on these trucks. When they lifted the truck I showed them the fittings. I stood there until they found the needle attachment for their grease gun and watched them grease the U-joints.



If your truck has the sticker in front of the radiator that says that this truck is equipped with the fittings, they must be greased. My truck is 3 years old and this is the first time those U-joints get greased. Even 5 star dealers don't know everything.

Old thread, but thought I would bring up the fact that the dealers (five star included) wont even check the diff for proper levels.



I busted Cerritos Dodge in So Cal back when I had my 99. Loosened both fill plugs until finger tight. When I picked it up I asked if they included that (axel level), their response "sure do".



They were very embarrassed.



Do your self a favor and service your own truck if possible.



Mac

 

[Grey Wolf]

Old thread, but thought I would bring up the fact that the dealers (five star included) wont even check the diff for proper levels.



I busted Cerritos Dodge in So Cal back when I had my 99. Loosened both fill plugs until finger tight. When I picked it up I asked if they included that (axel level), their response "sure do".



They were very embarrassed.



Do your self a favor and service your own truck if possible.



Mac

:-laf Good thinking! I would have loved to hear that conversation:-laf

 

[BGlidewell]

never done it with 55k on the clock. Bought the needle fitting, but there is no hole like pictured on my u-joints

 

[steved]

never done it with 55k on the clock. Bought the needle fitting, but there is no hole like pictured on my u-joints

Not surprising, I want to remember 05 being the change-over year, and hit or miss when it comes to the fitting. Similar with the G56/NV5600 and lift pump placement too.



I even had my front shaft replaced under warranty in 06/07 and the replacement still didn't have the grease access point. When I recently had my clutch replaced, I took the time to use a grease hypodermic needle to place grease into that ball and socket. Sort of a non-issue for those of us with lockout hobs since the shaft is barely used.