Syncro - Needle grease original driveshaft u-joints

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[Sodo]

[Sodo]

4 months UPDATE
....all dollops look exactly like they did 4 months ago.
The Permatex UltraGray® method works fine (as expected).
The drive shaft rotates appx 3400 RPM at highway speeds (w/4.86).

There's just a little thrown ring of grease spatters around my u-joints.
The driveline is still quiet no change from before the greasing, as expected and as per the goal. But 4 months is nothing.

So this one cup that didn't wanna grease like the others.

[Sodo]

Well it's been 25,000 miles and the driveline is still silent.
I'm tempted to grease again just to see what color comes out.

I need to check my Giubo, theres a little bushing in there that needs grease too.

Incidentally Giubo is pronounced "jyu-bo".

Kinda wish i could just open a zipper or something & grease it up, you know like "Borat 2 Rudy Giuliani Scene".
But I will have to unbolt the shaft and then I'll certainly check the color of the grease.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

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I’m still subscribed to this fascinating tale of grease , needles , and UJs


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.ssS!

[Sodo]

[4Gears4Tires]

[Sodo]

4G4T my hands are flailing about!

Anyway this greased shaft is still quiet at 210,000 miles.
Still haven't greased the "jyoo-bo", but I will !

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I got ahold of another driveshaft with only 43,000 miles and decided to exchange the grease in that one too.

So here's the hole with the harbor-freight diamond re-sharpened (from broken)n carbide spade bit.

If I was sharpening another spade bit for needle-greasing...... I'd be inclined to grind it at a very steep angle. That way it pierces the volume with more warning before it breaks thru.
This is theory - I have not tested this drillbit shape.
Again, the desire is to have the smallest hole and thus loose the smallest amount of particles into the bearing.

OK here's the 43k miles Syncro shaft, greased & dollopped with Permatex Ultra Gray®.
There is the dilemma, between getting the old grease out and introducing little steel bits from drilling (on this 43k shaft). But I did it.....
But any OTHER shaft with ~150,000 etc, clearly it's best to exchange the grease!
And especially before it gets dry!

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Note this 43k driveline has original U-joints and there is a shim under the circlip.
All the more reason, (I say) to grease it without disturbing it.
And as such, it seems wise to put new grease into the U-joints as early as possible, while they're still quiet.

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A housekeeping note for preserving your tube of Permatex Ultra Gray®!

The plastic cap is semi-permeable to oxygen thus a plug still hardens in the end after awhile.
Aluminum foil blocks the oxygen and it remains un-cured at the center for a long time.
Lay the foil as flat (un-wrinkled) as possible.
You don't have to over-tighten the cap.
Overtightening splits the cap too.
Tinfoil seems to work even if you have already split the cap.
Digging the tinfoil out the threads can take awhile too, but whatever you enjoy more...
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Ronzo_volvo_guy]

Sodo;

This is great stuff! I also say SCREW! to the "maintenance-free" UJs (and Ball Joints, and Batteries)...I call them unmaintainable!!...and I also advocate drilling and adding Zerks, but just banging a hole in there with a carbide bit still gets the important bit of being able to service them done.

I also like the ultra-gray sealant trick...but I must ask...with all grease around the hole acting as a parting agent, how do you prep and clean the area so the sealant has a chance of staying adhered and in place? ...your "dollops" seem to stay in place well!...am I needlessly concerned here? Is wiping enough? I would think spraying the area with a grease cutter, there would be a chance to get the grease cutter into the hole and negatively affect the grease in the joint?

I hereby award you a virtual Weissbier (with cheese) today, redeemable for the real thing next time you're in Connecticut. (No BS!...contact me to redeem, and I'm serious!)

Cheers

[Sodo]

I have added zerks before.
A Zerk on something that already runs 200,000 with original grease is in the overkill / hobby zone anyway.

I kinda think if you do this one time, flushing out the bedding-in grease, you're done. How much farther will you drive this antique?

And scraping off the sealant, re-greasing is pretty darned easy. Almost easier than the (seldom) grease nipple problems that do arise.

Zerks are over-and-above-kill and would encourage a mess around the u-joints. But you can't thread the cups anyway.

The hobbyist looking for shop activities could disassemble and drill the cross ???

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Regarding the parting agent theory, I just wiped it well then sprayed starting fluid onto paper towel and de-greased.

I fully understand the parting agent aspect, but have done this so many times (over ~40 years) the concern has long since passed.
Silicone adheres.
To appease yourself, test it on a shop scrap - wipe the grease but DON'T further degrease with a solvent. Leave a barely visible wetness of grease. You will find that silicone adheres right thru the ( thin) grease layer. A simple wipe with a solvent is actually overkill.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Steve M.]

I see the talk about drill bit sharpening and I have been using this tool which makes it easy to sharpen the drill bits.
The downside is that it is a a hundred bucks, but when you walk into a situation where the guys working there previously just kept buying boxes of drill bit sets because they just wore them all out and buy new to replace them this becomes cheap.

It works and fairly easy to use.

The "Drill Doctor" From 50 bucks up to 129 bucks.
https://www.amazon.com/drill-doctor/s?k=drill+doctor
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[Sodo]

Does drill Doctor have a diamond stone for carbide bits?
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb