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What are your feelings about using new U-Joints on the drive shaft and half-shafts with or without grease fittings? I think the ones I'm removing are original and lasted well over 100K miles with the grease fittings, and I'm not even sure how often they were actually lubed when she was in for a LOF service. I'd like to try the new permanently lubed ones, but I'm not sure how well they work and last. Any input for me?
I'm running 380 HP through mine with zerks and no issues so far.
I also like to be able to grease them. I don't have confidence in grease lasting for many, many years without being refreshed periodically. I does dry up eventually.
not trying to high jack but I am looking to redo the front and rear suspension and u joints in fall and was looking to see which u joints would be strong enough to handle burnouts and donuts occasionally without having to worry to much about them popping to often. You know something heavy-duty
Thanks for the input all. Even though I will not be going for high hp when I get the motor rebuilt I believe that sealed spicers are the answer for me. I don't think the car will be driven so much or that I'll be around so long that they will go dry...
I bought moog but it's the heavy duty non greaseable, they are really beefy and the u joint doesn't move all that much to cause wear and drying out, wear comes from pounding on them, one of my 81's had 100K on stock joints that were not in bad shape.
I needed this special type to adapt my axle to diff, you see where it could have a grease fitting but isnt machined hogged out for it...stronger.
To get to the bottom of this debate I decided to call Spicer tech support and get some facts.
I asked only about the 1350 series u-joint.
I asked specifically if the non-greasable u-joint is stronger than the greasable u-joint.
Short answer, NO.
Both u-joints have drillings into the trunion. The greasable u-joint drillings continue through the web and the non-greasable stops short of crossing in the web. The drillings in the non-greasable u-joint is to contain the grease.
At the trunnion is where breakage occurs. So your trunnions are drilled in either case.
I asked, does breakage occur through the web? His response, no. It occurs at the trunnion.
Both of the greasable and the non-greasable u-joints are rated exactly the same.
210 ft/lbs continuous
1240 ft/lbs momentary.
If you want to check it out yourself give them a call.
1-800-621-8084, ask for technical support.
The stronger of the 1350 series u-joint is the 5-1350-x (nongreasable) and 5-1350-1x (greasable) These he tells me are cold formed u-joints.
Both u-joint styles come with the same warranty. Both use the triple lip seal.
If you have no intention of ever greasing your u-joints I would say go with the non-greasable. But the closk starts on those u-joints when you install them.
If you actually do maintenance and don't mind greasing a couple of zerks then go greasable knowing that you can start the clock over each time you purge the old grease out with new grease.
WOW! Thanks for the research REELAV8R. It's amazing the info you got with a simple phone call. So I guess it now boils down to a simple question of whether or not an owner wants to add grease... BTW, your handle somehow looks familiar to me...
From: Some days your the dog and some days your the hydrant.
Royal Canadian Navy
Originally Posted by nwav8tor
WOW! Thanks for the research. It's amazing the info you got with a simple phone call. So I guess it now boils down to a simple question of whether or not an owner wants to add grease...
Paul
The strength of a u-joint isn't solely based on whether it has a grease nipple or not. The joint is made of metal. Is it a low quality steel or a higher strength steel? I'll stick with the Spicer without nipples. It is a quality u-joint.
MOOG "Super Strength" greasable here. I'm running close to 500 hp with absolutely no issues. I couldn't FATHOM having an issue with them, either.
I don't have the zerk fittings, though. I got the "needle type" fittings which are located on one of the endcaps. This allows you to grease the joint without getting your grease gun to limbo between the joints. Much easier to manage.
So...I'm firmly in the camp of "a super-duty greasable joint is every bit as good/strong as a 'regular' duty non-greasable joint".
To get to the bottom of this debate I decided to call Spicer tech support and get some facts.
I asked only about the 1350 series u-joint.
I asked specifically if the non-greasable u-joint is stronger than the greasable u-joint.
Short answer, NO.
Both u-joints have drillings into the trunion. The greasable u-joint drillings continue through the web and the non-greasable stops short of crossing in the web. The drillings in the non-greasable u-joint is to contain the grease.
At the trunnion is where breakage occurs. So your trunnions are drilled in either case.
I asked, does breakage occur through the web? His response, no. It occurs at the trunnion.
Both of the greasable and the non-greasable u-joints are rated exactly the same.
210 ft/lbs continuous
1240 ft/lbs momentary.
If you want to check it out yourself give them a call.
1-800-621-8084, ask for technical support.
The stronger of the 1350 series u-joint is the 5-1350-x (nongreasable) and 5-1350-1x (greasable) These he tells me are cold formed u-joints.
Both u-joint styles come with the same warranty. Both use the triple lip seal.
If you have no intention of ever greasing your u-joints I would say go with the non-greasable. But the closk starts on those u-joints when you install them.
If you actually do maintenance and don't mind greasing a couple of zerks then go greasable knowing that you can start the clock over each time you purge the old grease out with new grease.
I believe you on that one, however my Moog is not all drilled and hogged out....it IS stronger than it's grease fitted and drilled out counter part...but feel free to call moog....
Features
•Case-hardened bearing cups are precision-machined for consistent quality and uniformity throughout the joint.
•Abrasion-resistant nitrile seals provide optimal grease retention and excellent protection from under-vehicle contaminants.
•Greaseable versions feature a flush lube fitting in the bearing cup for easy access. Cross strength is increased by eliminating unnecessary grease channels.
•Bearing cups feature a radial design to allow 360 lubricant distribution to all bearing surfaces.
•Super-Strength allow steel crosses are forged on state-of-the-art equipment and case-hardened for maximum life. •Non-greaseable versions have grease reservoirs in the end of each journal to assure proper lubrication.
They increase cross strength by eliminating all grease channels within the cross body. •Super-Strength u-joints feature an exclusive MICRO SHIELD™ coating to protect against rust and corrosion.
U-Joints
