I think my front U joint is wearing out on my daily driver, therefore my question:

On a ThirdGen (and on a 1985 Chevy Caprice), are there grease fittings on the u joints to lube them with ? Or do I just wait until the u-joints makes noise, then replace them ? I always thought there weren't any greae fittings, so I never looked for them (yet).

Thanks

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88 GTA 5.7 TPI Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

some do some dont, theres greaseable and non-greaseable ujoints, if there stock then there most likely greaseable, the grease fittings are usally in really f'ed up places so just look around for them.

 

Thanks. Tomorrow a.m. she'll be up on ramps!

 

Stock ones never have grease fittings. Some (maybe even most) replacement ones do, so if yours have been changed, they probably do. The really highest quality heavy-duty ones don't, because they weaken the trunnion.

If they're stock, they're held in by some injection-molded plastic, there's a groove around the cap and a groove in the yoke that line up with each other to make one "double-wide" groove, they pump it full of the plastic, and you'll need heat to get them out.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Arrggghhh....(Thanks for the reply, RBL) Yes, they are stock, I am pretty sure.

OK, my next question is....

How much would an independent mech want to put in new u-joints front and back, parts and labor ???

My daily driver 85 Chevy is the only car that needs them at this point.

[This message has been edited by GTA88 (edited November 26, 2001).]

 

probley about 100$ i would guess, you will need new ujoints and have the driveshaft balenced, find a local driveshaft place and take it there.

 

AS RB said, stock has no grease fittings, most aftermarkets do unless they are the ultra high performance ones that give up the grease cavity for strength. If you DO decide to do it yourself, you will need heat to get the factory polymer out. Just BE CAREFUL, i've had a few that blew out from the heat ( a little too much :P) Figure on about $20 per u-joint and about 1 hour labour at your local shop rate. Also, it is NOT common practice to balance the driveshaft when replacing u-joints. So unless there is an immmediate, obvious balance problem, just change the u-joints and be on your way.

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85 Berlinetta Iroc exterior NOW 454 powered, 4.10 gears, 275/60/15 Hoosier Quicktimes freshly installed th350 3200 stall, shift kit, reworked valvebody, Megashifter, Biondo linelock ..........YES, it's street driven!

check it out at http://www.bsronline.net

 

I ran into a balance problem after replacing the U-joints on the 89 T/A... after talking to the guys at the drivtrain shop they said that the factory balances the driveshaft with the u-joints in place... they said sometimes you get lucky but you are better off to get it balanced...

zroc

 

Are you sure your balance problem didn't start because of the old hammer and socket method?, assuming you did it that way. I've seen MANY bent,dented and gouged yokes come through our shop, all because somebody tried it at home with the biggest hammer they could find

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85 Berlinetta Iroc exterior NOW 454 powered, 4.10 gears, 275/60/15 Hoosier Quicktimes freshly installed th350 3200 stall, shift kit, reworked valvebody, Megashifter, Biondo linelock ..........YES, it's street driven!

check it out at http://www.bsronline.net