I recently had some bad luck with Precisions, so I rebuilt both of mine with Neapco, We'll see if they last better
Precision u-joint durability?
- Thread starter Tugela
- Start date
I used Britpart (UK Land Rover parts source) greasable U/J's on our D2 front and rear shafts, with a new Precision 617 centering bearing.
So far that has done about 60k miles and with no problems, and we do tow a lot.
Balancing doesn't seem to be necessary as long as the two halves of the shaft are assembled the same way after the rebuild, and the grease nipples (can I use the N-word?
) are positioned on opposite sides at 180 degrees to each other so they balance out on the cardan joint. The single front joint shouldn't have a grease nipple in it for running as it has no balancing weight opposite. A short nipple can be used if your grease gun nozzle will go in netween the yokes.
Mine have plugs in the grease nipple holes as I need longer than standard nipples to get the grease gun onto them. I shoot some grease in and put the plugs back in afterwards. Takes 10 minutes, gets down before long towing trips or every 5000 miles.
Our original shaft did 130k miles before it was changed.
Peter
So far that has done about 60k miles and with no problems, and we do tow a lot.
Balancing doesn't seem to be necessary as long as the two halves of the shaft are assembled the same way after the rebuild, and the grease nipples (can I use the N-word?
) are positioned on opposite sides at 180 degrees to each other so they balance out on the cardan joint. The single front joint shouldn't have a grease nipple in it for running as it has no balancing weight opposite. A short nipple can be used if your grease gun nozzle will go in netween the yokes.Mine have plugs in the grease nipple holes as I need longer than standard nipples to get the grease gun onto them. I shoot some grease in and put the plugs back in afterwards. Takes 10 minutes, gets down before long towing trips or every 5000 miles.
Our original shaft did 130k miles before it was changed.
Peter
ptschram
Well-known member
the grease nipples (can I use the N-word?
Peter
They're called zerks.
Curiously enough, my Tom Woods drivshafts all have the zerks next to each other, rather than offset.
Also, the original u-joints have zerks, I doubt that little mass is a problem. If one were so inclined, there is a thread on here where I went to the trouble to measure the mass of the short zerks, the long zerks and flush zerks. IIRC, the mass difference was negligible.
Zerks to us are the slide-over hexagonal greasers used on Universal Carriers, or the simple push-to-grease type gun fitting with no latching grease gun head?
But I do recognise the reference when I see it
Peter
But I do recognise the reference when I see it
Peter
I rebuild mine with precisions. But the shop who did it only fitted one precision UJ, they said the other ones came mislabelled and were not the correct dimensions (the box was ok but was inside wasn't). Nevertheless, after 30K miles no problems at all. I grease them every 4500 miles to be on the safe side. This time it surprised how little effort was needed to rease the precision one (I identify ot because the non-precision ones have nipples -sorry, zerks- in a very strange place).
Peter: It's amazing your blue box UJs hold on. I was not brave enough to ask the shop to fit them and fitted the precision ones instead. Anyhow, still keep the blue box ones (with HD suffix, so in theory better quality) just in case.
So far no chirping no vibration but will keep an eye in case some play develops.
Best regards to all
Peter: It's amazing your blue box UJs hold on. I was not brave enough to ask the shop to fit them and fitted the precision ones instead. Anyhow, still keep the blue box ones (with HD suffix, so in theory better quality) just in case.
So far no chirping no vibration but will keep an eye in case some play develops.
Best regards to all
OK, following up on the original post. I installed the new (rebuilt & balanced) driveshaft today. My Grade 8 hardware fit onto the diff end of the driveshaft but I couldn't figure out how to remove the TC end bolts. I replaced those nuts with new nyloc Grade 8 on reinstall. After driving around town for a few miles it feels like there is less slop in the drivetrain when I release the throttle and most of the clunk in changing gears (P to R, R to D, etc) seems to have gone away. All in all an improvement. I'll post up when it's time to replace the Precisions. Hopefully I can get a few years out of them.