F150 driveshaft splines

[buck91]

Doing some research and I suspect my F150 suffers from the driveshaft "slip-bump" issue despite the one piece driveshaft. According to a certain Ford tech who has a youtube channel this is a common issue on both one amd two piece units and recommends greasing the spline whether they are between the two shafts or on the output shaft of the t-case. I would propose two questions.

1. Any possibility of grease contaminating the t-case fluid or causing issues?
2. What would the best grease be? Seems people are reporting return of symptoms after a short time with the specialty ford teflon grease.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Had this happen on the cherokee when I got it. What happens is the slip yoke is on the output shaft of the transfer case, it gets dry and then it binds and you get the bump.

1) If it is an external yoke (which, I guess it is since it's not lubricated and having issues with the slip bump), there is zero chance for contamination. If you can remove the rear driveshaft without losing the transfer case fluid, there is zero chance for contamination. I'm not familiar with the transfer case on the F150.

2) General consensus in the Jeep world is anti-seize compound works best and won't wear anything out.

 

[tcp71]

I have a 2009 F150 Screw with the long box. I have the two piece driveshaft. When I bought the truck, used, it had a pretty bad binding and would clunk on takeoff and when stopping. I lubed the center slip yoke with the ford teflon lube and it has held up for 40k kms (24k miles). The key is to remove any old dried grease and give both the inside and outside splines a liberal coating. This last fall I thought I felt a bit of binding coming back and relubed it for good measure. It is a simple procedure and took me 30 minutes going slow. Just pop off the clamp on the front side of the slip joint (if you're careful enough you can re-use, I just put a zip tie around instead of the metal clamp), undo the 4 bolts (12mm/ 12 point... a 12 sided socket works great) at the differential and it slides right out. clean and lube and re-install. the inside of the bellows has a notch that fits on the shaft that has a raised ring, so any clamping force holds it in place. The zip tie around that end worked fine for 40k kms and I put a new one on this last change.

 

[itguy08]

It's a common theme among many different trucks and other RWD vehicles.

There's no chance of contamination with the t-case - they are all sealed units.

I've heard that as well about it returning and I had mine done at the dealer in the summer when it was in for inspection and it's back again. Next time it's there I'll say something - I want to make sure it's not something else and if it is have the warranty pay!

Someone posted the shop manual's procedure on one of the F150 sites and IMHO seemed like they wanted to use a small amount of grease to lubricate the shaft. When I get under there to do it next I plan to load up on the grease and see if it lasts longer.

One thing I noticed with mine is put a couple friends in it or some weight in the bed and it goes away completely. Which makes me think there is not enough grease being used.

The grease Ford uses is supposed to be the best formulation for it. Some have used the similar Toyota grease for driveshafts with similar results so I'd think any driveshaft grease would also work well.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: tcp71
I lubed the center slip yoke with the ford teflon lube and it has held up for 40k kms (24k miles). The key is to remove any old dried grease and give both the inside and outside splines a liberal coating.


^^^ This. Ford or GM use the teflon grease. But clean it first. Re-do every 50-60,000 miles.

 

[buck91]

My first thought was the motorcraft silicone brake lube should work very well here. Maybe not though? I guess for $15 its not a big deal to use the teflon kit.

 

[buck91]

OK, so today was interesting.

Picked up a tube of XG-8 PTFE grease (Motorcraft) which is advertised as for drivehsaft splines. Its the older blue stuff but figured it'll work well enough. When I dropped the driveshaft I found two interesting things.

1. Some slop into tail shaft or output shaft bushing. The driveshaft could wiggle a tiny bit in the transfer case.

2. There was what appeared to be ATF, I would assume Motorcraft "transfer case fluid," on the splines. Nothing leaked out but they were wet.

I went ahead and grease the splines up on the driveshaft (one pice, did it on the female splines that insert around t-case output shaft) and found that with grease the slop went away. Too snowy out tonight for a test drive to be much good but I don't expect a change since the splines appear to be lubed by the transfer case fluid.

My question is how much play is acceptable in the tailshaft bushing? Also, are those splines SUPPOSED to have ATF/Tcase fluid on them?