Drive Shaft joint WTH ?? (1 Viewer)

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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.
Thank you. I had to put the grease gun in a vise and pry the zerk out with the claw of a hammer. Gun was like $40 too.
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
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.
 
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.
I appreciate that. I just bought new zerks, a puller and new adjustable nozzle for the grease gun. I originally thought that I would be saving myself some money by doing this myself and not running to Jiffy Lube. Now I will need to perform about 10 lubes before I break even.
 
All good except for the wood screw. I suspect that would severely rub Karma the wrong way...

Now, if this were a Chevy - fine :hillbilly:. I wouldn't dare with a 'Cruiser.
 
I bet jiffy lube would have ended up costing you more in the long run. They would have broken the zerks and charged you and arm and leg for replacing it or charged extra because it is an suv just to grease them in the first place. Even if they did it right and were cheaper, in the end you now can grease your shafts at home with each oil change and learned a bit in the process for very little money. Don't let this get you down :)
 
I think I paid $12 for my Harbor Freight grease gun. It works almost as well as my Lisle long handle gun that I've had for 35 years. The HF unit is a one hander with pistol grip, but only gives about 1/4 as much grease per pump as my Lisle.

I have Red-N-Tacky in the long handle Lisle with the needle tip and I have moly in the pistol grip HF for the yokes and to fill the birfs.
It takes about 310 pumps per tube for the HF.
 
I am happy to report that I have extracted both broken zerk threads and replaced them with new nozzles without having to drop the drive shaft. Final tally, three hours, a slightly bruised ego, about a hundred bucks and a deeper appreciation for the mud community.
 
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All good except for the wood screw. I suspect that would severely rub Karma the wrong way...

Now, if this were a Chevy - fine :hillbilly:. I wouldn't dare with a 'Cruiser.
What if it was a metric woodscrew?
 
I did something worse than all of you... I found my rear drive shaft and muffler touched recently. Been chasing a noise that made me scrub taking the cruiser on a camping trip a few weekends ago. Pulled rear drive shaft and put in new ujoints and cleaned and freshened up the slip yoke. Still made noise. Pulled front drive shaft and put in some Moog heavy duty ujoints and then noticed they had play in them... Took them off and put in some Japanese ujoints with no play....only did i find out that the exhaust "cushions" mounts were all broken zip ties from the previous owner who didn't want to pay the 10 dollars for new rubber.

Wasn't my drive shaft hitting my muffler...it was the other way around.... On the bright side all new ujoints and lots of wasted time ... And waiting on the last Mount to be delivered so i can get it all together again.

I do it right cause i do it at least twice
 
I did something worse than all of you... I found my rear drive shaft and muffler touched recently. Been chasing a noise that made me scrub taking the cruiser on a camping trip a few weekends ago. Pulled rear drive shaft and put in new ujoints and cleaned and freshened up the slip yoke. Still made noise. Pulled front drive shaft and put in some Moog heavy duty ujoints and then noticed they had play in them... Took them off and put in some Japanese ujoints with no play....only did i find out that the exhaust "cushions" mounts were all broken zip ties from the previous owner who didn't want to pay the 10 dollars for new rubber.

Wasn't my drive shaft hitting my muffler...it was the other way around.... On the bright side all new ujoints and lots of wasted time ... And waiting on the last Mount to be delivered so i can get it all together again.

I do it right cause i do it at least twice

Accidental baselining FTW :lol:
 
I have said this over and over, never do maintenance or a repair when the vehicle may be needed the next day or two. Not saying this is the case but simple things often go wrong when you least expect it and we know you don't live next to a fully stocked car spares shop that is open 24/7. Replacing the UJ is a simple enough job, just make sure you keep the yokes aligned so mark them first. Replacing the UJ you also get the chance if needed to drill out the broken grease nipple or zerk if you like and re tap if an eazy out does not work, you also get to clean out the old grease in the slip joint.

Pleased to see you got over this but keep my comments in mind for the future, you would be surprised (even amazed) at the amount of clients who ring me on a Saturday morning to book their car in for Monday to get a service or yearly inspection, you know just in case anything needs doing before their return journey to the UK (circa 3,000 miles), and if I could squeeze them in as they are leaving TUESDAY!

Now.....about that wood screw.........

Regards

Dave
 
I think I paid $12 for my Harbor Freight grease gun. It works almost as well as my Lisle long handle gun that I've had for 35 years. The HF unit is a one hander with pistol grip, but only gives about 1/4 as much grease per pump as my Lisle.

I have Red-N-Tacky in the long handle Lisle with the needle tip and I have moly in the pistol grip HF for the yokes and to fill the birfs.
It takes about 310 pumps per tube for the HF.
I bought a new nozzle for mine. It is adjustable so I can regulate the tension around the nozzle. Today I plan on topping off the bifs with molly grease. What could go wrong..
 
I bought a new nozzle for mine. It is adjustable so I can regulate the tension around the nozzle. Today I plan on topping off the bifs with molly grease. What could go wrong..
I just unscrew the plug, poke in the tip (just the tip) of the gun and pump away. If it overflows when I'm pumping, I pull it out, wipe it off and go home.





Wait.......whut?
 

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