Greased CV centering yoke or not???

[IRKillroy]

So I think my Double Carden CV joint on the front axle is going bad. I've got a squeak when it spins, I got under and with the hubs free and the transfer in "N" it only squeaked when one point was down so I don't think it's the output bearing on the transfer case.

So my real question is in the thread title. Should I get a greaseable centering yoke or not? and what are the benefits of one not being greaseable?

I'm not one of those guys who over grease u-joints so I'm considering myself responsible with a greaseable centering yoke, but other than it not getting messed up by over grease what's good about non-greaseable?


thanks for your opinions!

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

ive never seen a way to convert the sealed unit used on RBV's to greasable.

i got 120K miles out of my original rear double cardan joint. i just replaced it with a sealed replacement. i figured if i have to rebuild it every 120K miles, who cares? thats about every 10 years with the annual mileage i put on the truck. the front axle should take many decades to turn over 120K miles.

 

[IRKillroy]

well I saw it on murrays webpage... they are now owned by o'reilys

didn't know it could be greaseable either.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

got a link?

 

[IRKillroy]

Greaseable

Non-Greaseable

Main parts search

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i dont really see a difference between the two...

i was going to add a grease zerk to mine while i had it apart, but the problem i ran into was the big rubber dust boot that covers the whole joint:

i thought about drilling a hole in the bottom of the yoke, under the joint and installing a zerk there, but i was worried it would present clearence problems with the u-joint.

i just dont see how their greasable joint is suppose to be greasable. with the factory setup, you cant get to that ball to grease it.

 

[IRKillroy]

that's kinda what I was thinking... though I have heard of a needle zerk... what ever that is.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

a needle zerk is an extremely low profile zerk fitting. they are often used for front u-joints that have grease fittings in the end caps rather than in the cross, in order to clear the knuckle. the problem is they can only be accessed from straight on...so they wouldnt work in that application.

 

[F150hybred]

Honestly, once you have one of these MARVELS apart, you will completely understand why there is no room for any type of grease fitting. Having just done mine today, I know first hand why.... and was trying to think of ways to somehow fit something in there. And, yes... I did search all possibilities!
Best thing you can do is while you have it apart, GREASE THE LIVING HELL OUT OF IT!


EDIT: if you were to look on those pages and back up one, look at the yokes that are sold... one is for the "greasable" type. To run a greasable ball and gimble assembly, you would have to change the outer most yoke... Another $80.00 USD!
EDIT #2: http://shop.oreillyauto.com/productdetail.aspx?MfrCode=MCQ&MfrPartNumber=U9182&PartType=979&PTSet=A