Hey, ya' know that grease spec'd for the front driveshaft...?

[fkovalski]

Thanks RR!



I definetly DO NOT have the fitting even though I have the sticker

 

[RankRam]

Glad to help!

 

[klenger]

What part of the picture are we looking at for the fitting. I'm a bit slow when it comes to mechanical things.

 

[Burner]

Do you see the white or silver in the pick? It's the little pea sized thing between the yokes. Keep looking at it and you'll find a little black dot in the middle. That shape is a cone with a hole in the bottom. The special grease tip is pointed like a ballpoint pen. That "pen" fitting is what's used to grease the fitting.



IMHO, I'd be careful about using too heavy of a grease. I would think that too much grease would be a bad thing, possible churning?

 

[Signal73]

Do you guys feel this is sufficently lubed from the factory enough to make it to teh first oil change or something that should get don right away.

 

[steved]

Do you guys feel this is sufficently lubed from the factory enough to make it to teh first oil change or something that should get don right away.

I wouldn't worry about it until the first change...



steved

 

[troll3193]

Do you see the white or silver in the pick? It's the little pea sized thing between the yokes. Keep looking at it and you'll find a little black dot in the middle. That shape is a cone with a hole in the bottom. The special grease tip is pointed like a ballpoint pen. That "pen" fitting is what's used to grease the fitting.



IMHO, I'd be careful about using too heavy of a grease. I would think that too much grease would be a bad thing, possible churning?

So where would one get this special grease gun tip. . Per the service book, it needs to be greased every 3750 miles... Do not want to have to haul it into the dealer every time to have them do it.



Bryan

 

[05mxdiesel]

My 05 does not have the fitting either even though I have the sticker. Bought the needle fitting from napa, looked at it once with one tire off the ground spinning the driveshaft and could not find it. So then, I took the driveshaft off the truck and still no fitting. I must have got an older pre-05 driveshaft without the vibes and without a grease fitting. My truck was a jan 05 build.

 

[dwillmoth]

Just lubricated mine today, what a pain to get too. Before I do it again, I will cut my neddle fitting down, as it was I need to remove my skid plate to get the proper angle on the fitting. I have a Craftsman fitting that is a couple inches too long, maybe the Napa is shorter. I did the lifting of one wheel to allow rotation of the driveshaft. It is not easy to see as it is quite small and located at the base of the cross in the Cardien joint.

 

[fkovalski]

Thanks RR!



I definetly DO NOT have the fitting even though I have the sticker

I have to amend my replies! I do in fact HAVE the fitting! This whole sticker on the cowl was bothering me. No way in h#!! was DC going to install a 7 cent sticker for nothing! The fitting is there, just gotta' look for it.



I crawled in from the drivers side. Have the drivers side front wheel up. Look up just behind the crossmenber right above the u-joints. Rotate the tire. It will be towards the front u-joint (of the u- joint combination. ) Use the needle adapter and it is easy to lube.

 

[fkovalski]

... I need to remove my skid plate to get the proper angle on the fitting. ... .

I have the factory skid plate on mine and did not have to remove it. The skid plate did not come with my truck, I added it later- assume it is the same as yours.



Before modifying your needle adapter, try using an angled zerk that is on your needle. Mine needs the angle zerk to werk. I can change them out for grease gun to needle at any angle zerks that are available- In this case the 45^ works for me.

 

[troll3193]

FYI went in for my first oil change this morning. . Talked to the service manager about this and explained that when the tech did my lube job, I wanted to see how they did it and what kind of rig they used...



and as you might guess, no one there was even aware of this fitting or the need to lubricate it every 3750 miles... Guy had to borrow a needle fitting from another tech and finally got to it by turning the fitting so it was TDC and feeling for it and using the extra clearance from the top to grease it...



I think I am going to adapt my rig to a 90 degree fitting to lube it in-between oil changes. .



If you get your truck lubed at the dealer or some other place and assume they know about this, know where it is and have the right gear to lube it, you might want to double-check. .



Regards,



Bryan

 

[The Flash]

At 3750 miles, I spent a great deal of time trying to find the fitting. After searching the forums, I did find it but did not have a needle fitting. Today, I bought a needle fitting and spent 30 minutes looking for the darned fitting again. When I did finally see it, I found that the needle fitting was too long. So I will now try again when I get a angled fitting.



I was partying with a friend who is a tech at a local Dodge dealer and I asked him about the fitting. He was completely unaware of the fitting or lube requirements. What is Dodge thinking???

 

[BHolling]

One thing we do at our shop after we service these trucks is to mark the driveshaft with yellow marking paint as to where the shaft needs to be lined up so we can find the fitting a lot easier. Saves lots of looking time.

 

[Burner]

I sanded and painted my drive shafts, hangers... ... everything. It REALLY make it look clean under the truck. The paint helped me when I marked my zirk point. A Silver sharpie works wonders on black paint.

 

[Graphite 6]

I have a needle fitting, (NAPA #700-1193) It's hard to get the fitting in and you don't know if it's actually putting graese in there, Someone else said use NAPA# 715-1200, but that's a large point not really a needle, does this larger one seal flush and force grese into the fitting? which one would you all think is correct, and is an angle zerk necessary to get at it proper. This little maintainence project has consumed too much time. Thanks

 

[JohnnieWinona]

where???

i feel real stupid. i've spend an hour rolling the truck back and forth, i'm using way bright lights, i look at the picture on page 2. My neck hurts, and i still can't find that silly fitting.

Does it face the front, the photo looks like it does. Me truck is just about ready to turn 4000 miles, i changed me oil/filter, but all my time has been trying to locate the fitting thing. My dealer says he has a minimum charge of $45. to put it on a lift and show me. Bend over.



What am i missing???



sorry to be so challenged.

 

[CBrahs]

who is your dealer? I will avoid them if they want to charge you to show you the fitting, from the sounds of it most dealers don't know it is there anyway so you would be paying them to teach them something.



Does anyone aftermarket make a greasable joint for these trucks? i might think of changing all of them now so I can grease them. Don't need to be caught in the middle of no where between here and El Paso and broke down because DC can't design a good greasable joint.

 

[bigdaddycummins]

i have 2 06 hds and i cant find fitting on either truck why such a warning to grease at each oil change if theres no fitting should we just spray some grease up there anybody with a 06 have a fitting anybody thanks

 

[The Flash]

The fitting is there, but it is very hard to see. Use a mirror the first time to see what it looks like. It does not look like an ordinary zerk fitting - it is like a flat circle with a dot in the middle. A needle adapter will push in the dot and grease should go into the fitting. Worked good for me the first two times. Third time I could not get the grease to go into the fitting - it just squirted out the side. I finally gave up. Maybe the fitting is plugged up. There has to be a better way!!!