u-joints gone...both...what to buy

[RED71CHEVY]

...which are the good ones.
no zert...come permanently greased
with zert...have to grease them with oil chg....could be a pain
lets hear your thoughts...are both u-joint the same?

[cduster]

Personally, I prefer to grease my own. That way if they fail from no grease I have no-one else to blame.

[mr402]

No grease ones are generally stronger. They don't have a hole through the middle to weaken them. If major torque is not an issue and you don't mind greasing them every once in awhile they might last longer though. I've used both and never had any serious problems. I'm not running 450HP either though.

[RED71CHEVY]

thanks for the quick answers. both of the u-joint (i have no center bearing) went out on monday ,as i was sittiing at a stop light, with my feet on the brake and gas waiting for the light to change, started hearing a little noise then about 5 minutes later i was crossing the lake murray dam and they started slappin,shakin,squillin.and other amussing sounds... .......so i bought both kinds w/zerrts and w/o zerts......are there diff ones from front to rear or are they the same?

[masterbeavis]

when you take the driveshaft off, you can visually verify sizes to see if they match. I prefer the kind of u-joint with the grease zerk on the end of the cap. This way you have the best of both worlds. Higher cross stregnth, and greaseability. THe non greaseable ones can and will fling thier grease out under certain circumstances. I prefer greaseable.

[jimfulco]

If you use the ones with grease fittings in the cross, be sure you orient them so the torque from the engine tends to push the arms of the cross beside the hole together, instead of tending to pull them apart. The hole is a weak spot, and if the torque is trying to pull the arms apart, the cross will give way at the hole. When you're done, the hole on the front cross will be 90* off from the one on the rear cross.

[BowTieMan]

I work at a driveshaft shop and never saw a properly greased u joint brake. Saw un- greased ones brake because they weren't greased.

[Longhorn Man]

interesting, working on fleets, (and doing the lube ourselves) we see many many greasable u-joints wear out, yet the sealed ones are far and few between.
In my old 92 S-10 blazer, I towed it to the junk yard with 160xxx miles on it, and it had the original U-joints, my boss's 99 burb has about 112k on it, and it has the originals, and even one in our fleet, I think a 95 or so c/3500...180K is when the original U joints started making noise and got replaced.
However, we get light trucks and vans in ALL THE TIME for U-joints, and it is always the ones with zerk fittings in them.

Now granted, only 2 or 3 BROKEN u-joints have come through the shop, and they were all from abuse. (We see more broken driveshafts than broken u-joints)

[mocwon]

Spicer (made by Dana) is, without a doubt, the best brand going. Without zerks they are properly lubed to start with. With zerks you can properly lube them to start with and then if you are so inclined, lube them later as well which is obviously not an option with sealed u-joints.

[RED71CHEVY]

thanx to all for the input.. .............a couple hours of choice words, and i have new u-joint at the trans and the rearend........lets see what will be next......oh yea, the new a/c from vintage air that needs to be finished. so many interruptions, so little time.

[mtdave2]

its never ending! ugh.

i just had my whole drive line redone. had someone else do it . got the joints with the zerts, new carrier, ballanced. painted...and i never got dirty! lol. well worth the $400 i think it was

[Longhorn Man]

man... I had all that done for a little over 200. But mine are the HD non zerk U-joints.

[Richard]

I have really had no problems with the greasable kind and prefer the convenience. All my trucks have had 6" to 10" of lift and 350hp+, the 10" was on an 85 short bed (maybe 250hp). Whatever you choose get a good quality name brand u-joint such as spicer. I believe I have used the Precision brand as well. The main difference between the cheapos is the number of needle bearings. A quality unit will have smaller bearings and there are more of them. Those standard Kragen/Autozones will not last. Sure they are warrantied but you will be changing them often.