Grease recommendations for drive shaft and u-joints lube

[Beej]

Hey folks,

I've search on the forum and in FAQ and I've seen cautions against using moly grease on the u-joints, I've seen guys saying they "just use whatever is in the grease gun" and I've seen a recommendation for green grease in some PM threads.

What kind of grease for the drive shaft? What kind of grease so u-joints?

If green grease, do the different numbers mean anything? (203, 101, 1003, etc.)

Thanks in advance for any replies. I really appreciate the assistance!

-- Beej

 

[Kernal]

Valvoline Palladium for U-joints (continue pumping until you see fresh grease come out of all caps), and the slip joints (stop pumping the instant you see the shaft move, if not before). My rear U-joints are the originals at 345,000 miles, the 3% Moly found in the Palladium grease has not caused any problems, it may provide a bit more protection. The potential advantage for using Moly fortified grease is that it may help if the joints are neglected. IME as the U-joint seals age they don't seal as well and the grease seems to get flung out sooner, which means you probably should grease older U-joints more frequently, IMO/IME.

 

[bajaphile]

For U-joints I use the stickiest grease I could find, and for me it is the "Red and Tacky" Lucas Oil RED. I'm sure there are tackier out there. If the grease is kind of soft and liquidy, it will usually just fling out pretty quickly. Some people prefer to just use Moly fortified grease, some don't. The FSM says drive shafts do not require Moly grease, but don't say not to either. I do like the Valvoline Palladium as Kernal mentioned above.

 

[Beej]

Thanks! Any insights into the Green Grease numbering?

 

[Beej]

@bajaphile What do you use for the drive shaft?

 

[bajaphile]

By U-joints, I mean drive shaft. If you're talking about slip yoke then I just use the same red and tacky. Don't need to lube that one nearly as much though. Maybe 1 pump at most a year. The U-joints I lube every oil change.

 

[Beej]

I figured out the numbering for the Green Grease. It was just part numbers for the different packages. Looks like I'll be going with that. It was between that and the Red and Tacky. Surely any grease is better than no grease as Kernal pointed out to me.

I try not to put myself into the category of super-paranoid 80 driver (there's green coolant in my 80 for goodness sake ) but since I'm still new to the game I find I tend to air on the side of caution re: not using the moly grease. 345,000 miles should prove to me that this doesn't matter but my skull is thick.

 

[Mud crawler]

I just put moly in my new U-joints what's so bad about it???

 

[Beej]

At some point, @cruiserdan had posted on a thread that someone he knew who knows about such things said that moly grease will cause slipping rather than rolling. This is a completely bastardized version of the explanation so maybe he or someone else can weigh in.

 

[LINUS]

I like the K.I.S.S. principle - Kernal's way is my same way, Valvoline semi-synthetic goes in my birfs, u-joints, & driveline. 3-4 tubes under bench for emergencies.

3 grease guns on wall, 1 for 80/cars, 1 for boat, one toy-sized for quad/bicycle. KISS.

 

[Beej]

Ok but if we all really subscribed to the KISS method, I feel like we wouldn't be trying to drive around 20 year old cars

 

[LINUS]

Ok but if we all really subscribed to the KISS method, I feel like we wouldn't be trying to drive around 20 year old cars

Haha, fair enough - I've had the luxury of my top 80 in sig since it was ~4 yrs old, so in my case KISS has been in effect for ~15 yrs.
Any grease beat no grease, so that was SOP for alot of those yrs too.

Some of the crusty, 8 previous owner, salvage title 80's - yeah, I can see where KISS won't get you far.

 

[boobird]

Does anyone have a FSM on the driveshaft grease recommendations?

 

[Railwelder93]

In my experience with heavy equipment, how regularly you put grease in is way more important than what kind it is. 9/10 grease is grease, and 10/10 any grease is better than none...But in the spirit of splitting hairs I’ve thought about using Cat hammer paste on slip yoke just bc I have it and it’s the stickiest stuff there is. It will not wash out ever. It’s hard to jet off with a pressure washer and it’s pretty slick. Has copper in it so definitely a no go for u-joints. Anyone ever try that? Seem like the right amount of overkill for here. Lol

 

[69LC]

If moly lube is good for the high pressure of the birfs, why not just carry one gun and squirt it into the high pressure/workload of the u-joints?

 

[Zero Emissions]

anyone using the locknlube Amazon product ASIN B00H7LPKKU

 

[maxamillion2345]

In my experience with heavy equipment, how regularly you put grease in is way more important than what kind it is. 9/10 grease is grease, and 10/10 any grease is better than none...But in the spirit of splitting hairs I’ve thought about using Cat hammer paste on slip yoke just bc I have it and it’s the stickiest stuff there is. It will not wash out ever. It’s hard to jet off with a pressure washer and it’s pretty slick. Has copper in it so definitely a no go for u-joints. Anyone ever try that? Seem like the right amount of overkill for here. Lol

Hah I like the way you think. No doubt thatd work great for slip yoke.

 

[maxamillion2345]

At some point, @cruiserdan had posted on a thread that someone he knew who knows about such things said that moly grease will cause slipping rather than rolling. This is a completely bastardized version of the explanation so maybe he or someone else can weigh in.

I just put moly in my new U-joints what's so bad about it???

If moly lube is good for the high pressure of the birfs, why not just carry one gun and squirt it into the high pressure/workload of the u-joints?

I know this is an older thread but since it got bumped I wanted to add to this discussion.

Skating (sliding rather than rolling) of roller bearings occurs when moly content in grease is much higher than 3-5%, as typically found in automotive greases like valvoline syn power or valvoline palladium. Same with needle bearings. Theres no concern with pumping 3-5% moly grease into your ujoints. Thered be a lot of pissed off people out there if those greases caused needle bearings to slide as theres a number of people pumping that stuff into their ujoints already, myself included. I wouldn’t hesitate to run palladium in ujoints, slip, birfs, wheel bearings, trunnions, spindle, and anywhere else you might need a good auto grease.