1984 Toyota truck, 2wd, long bed

I put in a u-joint in that had a zerk fitting on it, but I was not able to grease it with a standard grease gun that had a flexible end on it. I took it to Oil Can Henry's (like a Jiffy Lube) just to see if they could grease that one u-joint. I drove it in and they tried, but said they were unable to get their grease gun into the space.

How are you supposed to grease this with the zerk in between both joints like it is?

 

They make a needle point for grease guns ,that you can buy at the part store.

 

(revised)

Hmmmm... how about replacing that fitting with a 45-° OR 90-° zerk http://www.saeproducts.com/metric-zerk-sixfourfive.html? Head will end up where there's more space between the pivots.

Should there also be a zerk with 6mm 1.0 tread and 45-° OR 90-° head in that vacant hole?

Here's a pic of mine showing grease-covered 45° zerk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raymonddeza/6876318366/

(sorry, shud have cleaned b4 taking pic

 

That won't work.

Won't fit.
No.
ANSWER: YOU CAN'T.

REASON: It's not possible, plain and simple. Not once you have it installed. With those 2 bearing caps installed, the zerk is COMPLETELY inaccessible and/or unable to be used.

HOW DO I KNOW?: Because I recognize it as one of those POS Duralast u-joints from Autozone, that I've already warned you guys not to purchase(because of this fact). Having already discovered this defect myself a few years ago.

CASE CLOSED.

 

what if u tap the joint over enough to get a gun on the zerk fitting and grease it that way, then tap it back in place, just an idea?

 

I don't know if you have the space or not but can you remove the fitting from there? if yes, maybe you can replace it with a longer shank fitting just to grease it.

 

I tried every which way I could. It just wasn't doable. In any kind of practical/sensible manner. Anyway, having to basically uninstall, fully or not, the u-joint just to grease it IS RIDICULOUS!!! To say the least. And I looked everywhere for a different kind of zerk fitting that might possibly work, and came up empty-handed.

Not too mention the fact that it wasn't the only defect with the one I bought. It didn't even fit my driveshaft right. Once I got it fully installed with all the c-clips on, it still had play in it. Not just a little bit of play either. It was WAY sloppier than the worn out OEM u-joint it was supposed to be replacing.

Bottom line: These u-joints are scrap metal brand new. That's what you're paying for when you buy one. Go to NAPA, and buy Precision brand u-joints. They're not as good as OEM, but they're very high quality u-joints none-the-less. I recommend the regular/OE strength u-joints made by Precision, but the Precision Super Strength are good too. I've run both types for years with no problems. I've had my rear driveshaft yoke fail because the Super Strength u-joint wouldn't fail first. They're too strong IMO. Which is why I don't run those anymore(price of new u-joint < price of new driveshaft yoke).

 

Kettlehouse, Maybe you should return the u joint if you can and tell them it was worse then oem and just go buy one from the dealer or napa. Sounds like I may save you in the long run. Oem may cost more. But as far as I could tell it took 280,000 miles for one to fail on my truck.

 

X2.



Wish all threads had a direct anwere such as this one. Escpecially mine,

 

Yes, it was one of those Duralast ones from Auto-Zone.

So rather than trying to buy different fittings for a grease gun, I figured I would call the other Oil Can Henry's and see if they could grease it. They said they should be able to get it and would do it for free. I should mention that at Oil Can Henry's, you don't just drop off your car, you sit in it the whole time and there is an actual video screen that shows them working below. When I got there the guy tried one grease gun fitting and then switched to a different one and said it worked, he showed it to me and it was a lot narrower than a typical grease gun fitting. He did it for free without trying to sell me anything else and that was that. For all I know, he could have been lying, but it looked like he got it.

Short version: took it to another Oil Can Henry's and they did it for free with a smaller grease gun fitting

 

do they stroke your johnson while their at it to.

 

Isn't there some kind of clip that fits to hold u-joint in place I didn't see them in the photo or is there another way to secure it? I was just wondering.

 

Most mechanic shops will try to (bore out the diameter of the exhaust manifold for their johnson) that hurts the wallet.

If they plan on strokin your johnson, well thats just dirty.

 

What size grease gun did you use? For some reason, my standard grease gun doesn't even snap onto the fitting, never mind the challenge of actually getting it in there.

Thanks,
FW

 

This thread seems to be dead, but just in case someone like myself stumbles upon it looking for answers I found this . It is a grease gun extension adapter. Just ordered one for my Duralast u-joint I installed on my '93 Toyota pickup. Hopefully this does the trick.





d

 

Seems like the cost savings of the cheap crappy U-joint is negated by the need to buy a fancy tool to band-aid the problem. Why not buy a quality part? OEM joints often last over 200,000 miles with occasional greasing. I've never gotten good life out of aftermarket U-joints. There's a reason the cheap parts are cheap.

 

The post wasn't for people deciding which u-joint to buy, but for those of us who have already bought and installed the "cheap" one. Not everyone has the time nor inclination to uninstall and reinstall if there is something else that can be done. I wish I had popped for a different u-joint, but I didn't.