u-joint grease fitting position...

Rebuilding f/r d/s's, both cv's, question is, with the greasable Spicers I'm using, should the grease fitting (at the differential yokes) angle towards the d/s, or the dif yoke?!?

Thanks,

Ideally, the grease fitting should be in whichever position will give you the best access for lubrication.

Nice link in your sig...

5-90

Thank you very much for acknowledging sig; can't leave my job/family in ny, have a small place in fl., they value life, you apparently have common sense, a rare commodity these days...

Have a locally rebuilt pos r d/s, grease fitting faces towards d/s, pita to grease, eyeballing it I think opposite direction will allow grease gun fitting ample clearance...

Thanks,

No problem. I've known about packing.org for a number of years (about since inception, I'd say...)

"If sense is so common, why don't you have any?" I want to ask that question of several people each day, and with good reason. Living in CA has its problems (taxation, the busybodies in Sacramento, the liberal climate, and numerous people "educated beyond their intelligence." I've been told I was "overqualified and undereducated" so many times that I've finallly gone back to school myself. Had to decide what to study...)

From a standpoint of material strength, it really doesn't matter which way the zerk faces when it's located in the cross - so face it to your convenience. It would make more sense to put the zerks in the caps and make the cross solid - but that would require fitting/installing four zerks instead of one, which is why it's not generally done.

I'd not call it "common sense" - more "experience." There are two definitions of "experience" as I use the word...

"Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."
"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."

Fortunately, experience not only (usually) comes with a number of scars, but also with some pretty damn good stories. At least I've not been bored - many things, but not bored!

5-90

5-90;

Falling out; will continue w/thread tomorrow... Extremely respectful of your response, but can't provide adequate response tonite though; desperately need some REM...

Thank you!

Mike, those zerks should be installed so that they're under compression (rather than tension) when the driveshaft has torque applied.

Look to see what direction the driveshaft turns under power, and install the joint with the zerk being 'pushed' (rather than pulled), by the driveshaft when it's turning. The U-joint can withstand much more torque when under compression that when under tension.

Remember the front joint is torqued by the transfer case yoke, and the rear joint is torqued by the driveshaft yoke. You'll have to visualize the torque direction, and place the J-joints accordingly. The zerk angle dosn't matter.

Hope this explanation makes sense......

5-90; pm'd you, let me know if you got it...

ROE; understand the concept of tension/compression - watched a cool documentary on bridge failures on PBS once - but will need time to visualize in 3D your recommendation

Thanks guys, old joints came out like a charm, will take some photos of a cv joint innards for those like me who never saw one apart before,