U-Joint Discussion......

[brian4d]

I was talking with a buddy of mine the other day. He works on GM's not Rovers. I told him about the common U-joint issue with Disco II's (not sure about the I). He had a different slant on the issue. He mentioned that the front U-joint might not be greaseable for a reason (Go Figure!). His thinking - - - The greaseable joint would heat up and sling grease right out of the joint onto the road or other parts of the undercarriage. The after a short time you wouldn't have any grease at all. The non greaseable u-joint is "sealed" and won't fling grease but rather dry up and eventually need to be re-packed with grease. I imagine this has been discussed before. Now I'm in the position, New non greaseable joint from AB or greasable and grease it every 2 3 thousand miles. Thoughts???

[rmuller]

The sealed units were most likely because LR wanted to cater to the soccer mom's who didn't take care of their vehicles, hence taking one more maintenance thing away from them.. I'd say either get a non greasable and replace it every 30-40k miles or get greasable and hit it with grease every time you change the oil or go under water.

[brooksa]

I'm with rmuller on this one, I would rather grease the fittings at oil changes and know for sure is grease is in there.

[Disco Mike]

Originally Posted by brian4d

I was talking with a buddy of mine the other day. He works on GM's not Rovers. I told him about the common U-joint issue with Disco II's (not sure about the I). He had a different slant on the issue. He mentioned that the front U-joint might not be greaseable for a reason (Go Figure!). His thinking - - - The greaseable joint would heat up and sling grease right out of the joint onto the road or other parts of the undercarriage. The after a short time you wouldn't have any grease at all. The non greaseable u-joint is "sealed" and won't fling grease but rather dry up and eventually need to be re-packed with grease. I imagine this has been discussed before. Now I'm in the position, New non greaseable joint from AB or greasable and grease it every 2 3 thousand miles. Thoughts???

So much for your uneducated mechanic friend, worrys me when they start thinking and don't have a clue.
I you are question weather or not to you them, at some point you will be out stimulating the economy when your fail, and it is expensive.
Mike

[brian4d]

Mike:

I'll start here,

My "friend" is a Master Mech. and works on GM LS and LT engines, just a bit more complicated than engines in our Discovery’s. My “uneducated” friend must have had the same idea as the original design team at Land Rover, or someone (at Land Rover) made a catastrophic mistake. I'll guess the lesser of two evils.

[antichrist]

Lifetime lubed (i.e. non-greasable) u-joints are the common fitment to cars these days. I don't think Land Rover was doing anything but following the trend for "reduced" maintenance.
Even if they do fling the grease out, if you grease them properly every 5,000 miles like you're supposed to you won't have any problems. When I grease mine I see old grease come out, so I know the grease isn't being flung out.
Just remember make it a habit, every oil change. That way you don't forget.
And I like Neapco 1-0005 u-joints. With the zerk in the end cap they are much easier to lube on the DC end of the propshaft.

[slouzon]

I don't remember seeing any differences between the cap seals on greasable and non-greasable u-joints?
Non-greasables are usually stronger as they don't have a grease fitting and grease ports drilled in them.
We don't have enough HP to make it an issue.
I like greasing my joints!!

[p76rangie]

Has anyone proven that the greasable ones last longer, even if you do grease them at every oil change. I have seen them fail in less time than an oil change. From the people I Know with D2's, the greasable ones do not seem to be lasting any longer than the originals.

[brian4d]

Ok, Antichrist hit on my next question. For a D2 what is the best brand (Make) and where can I buy my 3 greaseable joints and centering kit? - - - - - - - For the record, my driveline guy (this past Friday) rebalaneced and re-packed (not greased) my non-greaseable ujoint for my front driveshaft. He said everything looked great. The only thing he noticed is that the orginal grease (after 74,000 miles) was a bit dried up.... I had a shimmy on the front end at 35-40 mph, he nailed the problem by fixing the "play" in the front drive-shaft while I was there. He had worked on a 2000 the week before and tried to drive my 02 without the front drivesaft to narrow the problem down. Poor guy ended up calling the dealer when it wouldn't move! I had to brake the news that I didn't have a CDL.

[Alak]

My Mazda has 200,000 miles on it with the 25 year old non-greasable u-joints.

The difference is, however, that in the mazda, the shaft see's minimal travel when compared to the land rover off-road.


Every tractor-trailer made has greasable u-joints, although much larger than your average u-joint (by about 30 pounds). I grease them every service and observed 9 times out of 10 they are already greased and good to go. The 10th time would be a failing u-joint due to 99% of the time - shaft play (then you have other worries) OR 1% of the time someone didnt clean the grease fitting when they put the nozzle on and it pumped a bunch of dirt in there too. But that takes along time to have an effect.

If your trying to pump grease in and it wont go, its time to either get out your spanner and take out the nipple and clean it (usually with a little pick) or get a new u-joint.

[antichrist]

Originally Posted by slouzon

I don't remember seeing any differences between the cap seals on greasable and non-greasable u-joints?
Non-greasables are usually stronger as they don't have a grease fitting and grease ports drilled in them.
We don't have enough HP to make it an issue.
I like greasing my joints!!

Actually there are differences in the design of greasable vs. non-greasable, at least in the newer ones. 30 years ago I don't know.

[antichrist]

Originally Posted by brian4d

Ok, Antichrist hit on my next question. For a D2 what is the best brand (Make) and where can I buy my 3 greaseable joints and centering kit?

Being as you're in NC you're in luck. You can get Neapco u-joints at Autozone for about $13. They are boxed as PDQ10005, but, unlike many of the PDQ u-joints, are actually made by Neapco. I like these in particular because the zerk is on the end cap which make the joint a bit stonger, compared to it being in the valley of the cross, but more importantly, it makes them a lot easier to lube, especially on the DC end. I replace the standard zerk fitting with a flush style though. The centering kit is 7-0081NG and crosses to the Precision and NAPA 617. All 3 are about the same price.
As for who makes the "best", well, everyone has their favorite.

Whatever brand you get, just be sure to grease them every oil change.

edit. I meant to say Advance Auto. You might find them at Autozone. While Autozone used to carry them, they are switching suppliers and it's hit or miss. If they say USA on the u-joint itself and have the zerk in the end cap then they are Neapco. But Advance Auto definitely still carries them. Definitely as of a few months ago that is.

[p76rangie]

Originally Posted by antichrist

I like these in particular because the zerk is on the end cap.

Not a good idea if you take it off road.

Don't need to lube a sealed uni every oil change. The sealed ones will generally last longer as they don't let crap into the bearings. Greaseable ones let the crap in and then rely on you greasing them to get it back out again. Sealed units are new generation, greaseable are old tech. But is still comes down to getting a reputable brand

[1hank1]

Originally Posted by p76rangie

Not a good idea if you take it off road.

Don't need to lube a sealed uni every oil change. The sealed ones will generally last longer as they don't let crap into the bearings. Greaseable ones let the crap in and then rely on you greasing them to get it back out again. Sealed units are new generation, greaseable are old tech. But is still comes down to getting a reputable brand

WTF????

[CaptainRuss]

Originally Posted by p76rangie

Not a good idea if you take it off road.

Don't need to lube a sealed uni every oil change. The sealed ones will generally last longer as they don't let crap into the bearings. Greaseable ones let the crap in and then rely on you greasing them to get it back out again. Sealed units are new generation, greaseable are old tech. But is still comes down to getting a reputable brand

Ian, once again you have displayed yourself as an absolute idiot. It is incomprehensible where you come up with this shite.