grease...

[aboyandhisdog]

Well, I just spent a couple of hours wiping grease from the bottom of the tub above the U-joints for the rear drive shaft.  While I appreciate the "rust preventative" properties of coating the underside of my jeep with u-joint grease, it got me thinking a bit.  First of all, doesn't seem like there can really be all that much movement in u-joint ends.  I guess there's some for sure and it all happens pretty fast, well, fast enough to sling grease out all over the place.  But, it doesn't seem like those spindle bearings would really be moving hardly at all.  I mean, how much grease do they really need?  Are there any tricks to keep grease where you want it?  Am I putting too much in?

Also, what are the pros and cons of Lithium vs. molybdenum  vs. other mulit-purpose grease?  What do you guys use in the grease gun for u-joints, ball joints, etc.?  Thanks!

[F Bill]

It sounds like you may be overgreasing the Ujoints....Most modern greases will do just fine there, altho I am sure some of us have favorites... A little grease on the underside of the tub is not that bad a price to pay for longer lasting U joints. WHen you grease them, just look for a tiny bit of movement in the seals and you can assume you are done. If you do river crossings you might want to keep up your present method to flush out the contaminants and water.

I'm not sure what spindle bearings you are referring to on the rear driveshaft...If you mean splines, they do constantly move in and out a little bit as your suspension travels....and also are easy to overgrease. Just wipe off any excess before you drive away. Or drive it a little and wipe it off again.

[aboyandhisdog]

You're right, Bill - I wrote "spindle" but I meant the little needle bearings in the u-joint caps.  Just doesn't seem like they do much but I guess there has to be something in there that will move.  

[Carls_jeep]

Some of the grease coming out is due to the heat during use. You grease it cold and drive it and the U joint warms up and pushes the excess grease out. I would rather see grease on the bottom of the tub than not have them greased enough.

When you drive through a stream the hot rear end and U joints hit the cold water and suck the water into them. Be aware of that when you get home from crossing streams or any water.