o/t U-joint question

Anonymous-0 · Sep 19, 2011

Put a new u-joint in brother's '92 chevy half ton tonight. The old one had no grease fitting but the new joint does. Waited till we got drive shaft installed to try to grease it and couldn't get the grease gun attached no way no how at any position. Does any one here know if you could put a different grease fitting in there that might work, with an angle or something? It got too late to pull the drive shaft back out tonight.

LOU from WI · Sep 19, 2011

Sounds like it's backwards. If not then a 90o zerk will give it clearance for the grease gun. HTH
LOU

John - OH · Sep 19, 2011

U joint is in backwards which I'm sure you have already figured out. If its anything like my 01 there is not enough clearance to put an angled zerk in.

BarryfromIA · Sep 19, 2011

Have you tried a grease gun for the end of a chain saw with the roller nose. Some have a small hole near the end on the side where a pointed tip grease gun can be pushed in.

bradk · Sep 19, 2011

You're not the first guy to put a u-joint in backward..................

BarryfromIA · Sep 19, 2011

Oregon Cutting Systems #26365 Grease Gun.

ShadetreeRet · Sep 19, 2011

Don't feel too bad, since the old one had no fitting, you had nothing for reference. To quote those famous words from Forrest Gump, "It happens."

Janicholson · Sep 19, 2011

I own a thin tipped grease injector. It fits on the zerk with hand pressure forcing the fit. It has a Zerk on the other end to fit your gun. (I do not lend tools, but they should be commonly available. Jim

504 · Sep 19, 2011

Needle tip adapter, any farm store should have one and most auto parts stores too.

Mike in Mn. · Sep 19, 2011

If you have ever serviced many pickups, about half of the fittings a regular tip wont fit on, you need to use a needle tip to get at it, sold at most auto parts stores. Some are in backwards and on some the joint has to be loosened to get at them. So the heavy duty or non greaseable joints aren't such a bad option some times.

chevytaHOE5674 · Sep 19, 2011

Non greasable joints are the way to go. If you must get greasable joints then get the "flush" mount zerks that are made for a needle greaser. Then get yourself a needle tip for your grease gun and your all set.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 20, 2011

several of you said it's in backwards. the grease fitting comes out straight on one side. there is no backwards. I've been there done that.

hayray · Sep 20, 2011

Pretty sure you put the U-joint in wrong so the grease fitting did not line up. Should be easy to grease. Just replaced some factory oringinal greasless with new joints with fittings. The old ones dry right up fast so good idea to put greasable fittings in.

Kansas Cockshutt · Sep 20, 2011

Backwards as in the u-joint itself needs to be flipped; if the zerk faces the front of the truck, for instance, remove the u-joint and install it so the zerk will face the back of the truck. The caps don"t care if they are in the shaft or the yoke, but the direction of the ujoint body, and subsquently the direction the zerk will face will alter the clearance you have to get on the bugger with your grease gun.

Bob · Sep 20, 2011

For many automotive applications you can get replacement "U" joints with the Zerk in one of the "cups" making greasing easy.

Auto parts guy didn't dig deep enough to sell you the right joint.

<img src = "http://images.oreillyauto.com/parts/img/large/pre/hpe_280.jpg">

Here's ONE example, with the little Zerk shown next to the cup it threads into. You grease it with a special adapter... (With which you MAY be able to access and grease the Zerk in the joint you have.)

<img src = "http://www.kaedings.com/images/krp-grease%20needle.jpg">

chevytaHOE5674 · Sep 20, 2011

(quoted from post at 04:27:08 09/20/11) The caps don"t care if they are in the shaft or the yoke

Not sure about this application in particular but that general saying is wrong wrong wrong. Many U-joints have different size caps on the two Axis. Also many have different clip arrangements on the different axis's.

Mel in SW Iowa · Sep 20, 2011

I don't know if this will work for you, but I have been able to grind down two sides of
a grease gun coupler so that it will fit in tight
places. It will still work on accessible zerks after you narrow it down. Don't grind on the only one you have.

36 Coupe · Sep 20, 2011

I greased a lot of cars and trucks in the 50s and had an adapter for greasing tight u joints.Still have it plus a needle for greasing sealed bearings.

Kansas Cockshutt · Sep 21, 2011

The truth is, turning the body of the u joint around will
1. Not change the cap size or the clips etc that hold the caps in the yoke.
2. Probably cure the clearance issue by getting the zerk out of the crowded side and out in the open.

I was not trying to suggest he install the u-joint improperly, so it would fall out, or not be retained properly in the yoke.

Stephen Newell · Sep 21, 2011

I’m not familiar with your vehicle but I have a jeep that I bought a U-joint for that you couldn’t grease. I packed it with grease and that was the last it got. Consequently it didn’t last too long. I purchased another U-Joint from another supplier and the casting on the U-Joint was the same but the grease fitting was on a 45o angle instead of straight like the other one. I’m now able to grease the U-Joint because of the different fitting. They make these aftermarket parts fit so many different vehicles that sometimes they don’t completely work. Perhaps you can purchase a grease fitting on a 45 or 90o angle that will fit in there and not bind.

o/t U-joint question

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