Drive Shaft joint WTH ?? (1 Viewer)

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Jun 1, 2021
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SF,CA
What the hell am I suppose to do now?
The nipple broke off of the U joint on the drive shaft??!!
It was stuck to the gun, I gave it a yank and now there’s just a spring. I can’t even get the nip out of the gun.

37B5C25E-B78B-4D65-B7EC-82C960975835.jpeg
 
I mangled the nipple getting it out of the gun.
I didn’t know the nipples are threaded in.
 
Pull the spring out.
Extract the busted nipple with an ezy out
replace nipple
Disassemble grease gun nozzle, or replace it
I also messed up the nipple on the inside of the u joint. Damn it
As suggested, ez out. Nice thing is you don't need to drill, which is the hardest part of the job.
Your lucky day!
I see there's some posts about it. I was just so pissed at myself. A ten minute PM task is now a project. I knew I shouldn't have bought the cheapie molly gun.
 
I also messed up the nipple on the inside of the u joint. Damn it

Are you saying you messed up another one in a uni joint? The one you have pictures with the spring is in the yolk, or slip joint, not the uni.

The hole in the centre of the nipple will probably work as is for an ezy out, or drill out slightly bigger to get the next size up ezyout in for less chance of breaking it.
 
Are you saying you messed up another one in a uni joint? The one you have pictures with the spring is in the yolk, or slip joint, not the uni.

The hole in the centre of the nipple will probably work as is for an ezy out, or drill out slightly bigger to get the next size up ezyout in for less chance of breaking it.
Yes I f-d up the on the inside too! I put oil on it and cleaned it up before attaching the grease hose. I need to fix that one too and that is way less accessible.
 
Thanks
This is gonna be a real PITA getting the inside nipple. I really don’t want to drop that shaft.I don’t understand how a quick PM can turn into such a pain!

Some guys with LC-OCD will stroke out at this, but leave the one in the uni joint as is.

Use a needle point fitting on the grease gun, and force grease in through the busted nipple.

Keep the grease up to it, it's not gonna matter a lot.

You could probably drive a wood screw into the nipple to keep water /dirt out.

Leave it as is until it's time for new uni joints
 
Some guys with LC-OCD will stroke out at this, but leave the one in the uni joint as is.

Use a needle point fitting on the grease gun, and force grease in through the busted nipple.

Keep the grease up to it, it's not gonna matter a lot.

You could probably drive a wood screw into the nipple to keep water /dirt out.

Leave it as is until it's time for new uni joints
I'm inclined to follow your advice. Won't grease fly out of that little hole when the shaft spins? Do you know what size zerks these are? (I think they are called zerks). Thanks- Dan
 
I'm inclined to follow your advice. Won't grease fly out of that little hole when the shaft spins? Do you know what size zerks these are? (I think they are called zerks). Thanks- Dan
A small amount will, but freshly greased uni joints will fling a bit out anyway.

They'll be metric thread. 6mm I believe, but not certain
 
Why are you stressing about this?
Why don't you just drop the drive shaft and fix it. It's 8 14mm nuts and bolts and will take 5 minutes to remove and replace the zirks on a bench.
Any auto parts store will have a bag of multiple size zirks for a few dollars.

A wood screw? Really?
 
Why are you stressing about this?
Why don't you just drop the drive shaft and fix it. It's 8 14mm nuts and bolts and will take 5 minutes to remove and replace the zirks on a bench.
Any auto parts store will have a bag of multiple size zirks for a few dollars.

A wood screw? Really?
I’m not stressing so much. Just disappointed a simple PM turns into a project.
 
As @jonheld said, its just a couple extra bolts to drop the shaft. I'm not sure I would call this PM turning into a "project". It is an easy fix, will provide you with knowledge, confidence and a set of easy outs for the next time something like this happens and maybe will prevent another broken zerk if you think it is your grease gun that is doing this and get it replaced.
 
I’m not stressing so much. Just disappointed a simple PM turns into a project.
I totally understand how something so small like greasing a driveshaft can turn into a whole ordeal. My "slack throttle" noise drove me insane when I first bought my 80, so in greasing both driveshafts, I learned that the slip yoke on the rear drive shaft had some play. That turned into a new rear driveshaft and front double carndan shaft. Then new engine and trans mounts and they were all cracked and letting go. Then new panhard bars front and rear as those bushing were cracked and falling out. Then rear upper and lower control arms. Now my suspension is all new and my rear pinion angle is happy so no noise while driving...

Simple PM turns into tunnel vision with certain 80's or owners. Unlike others, I kept unearthing things that the pervious owner said were replaced with new parts that in fact were not.
 
And, there's the stroking out OCD :lol:

You can still fill it with fresh grease as is, and could continue to indefinitely. Deal with them in the future, or deal with them now, whatever works for you

I’m not stressing so much. Just disappointed a simple PM turns into a project.

That's the catch with old vehicles.

I had to pull the rear shaft out of my current 80 recently to drop the t-case.
First time I'd had it out. I found mismatched hardware, and bolts done up so tight I couldn't shift them without heat.
I spent way too long on 8 bolts when I was focusing on getting other things sorted.

Ended up ordering new hardware, and new uni joints, and changed them all. That in itself was an ordeal with this one.
 

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