Tonight I disassembled and cleaned 6 of the joints. They had been in use for almost a year. Actually I have no memory of if they were prelubed when I got them. They came from a 3rd party new on a suspension system, not Currie, so I don't know if that 3rd party lubed them when they assembled them, they probably did (?). Before I put the Jeep on the road I of course greased them with the Chevron grease I use for ujoints (Ultra Duty ep 2, only thing I had in my gun).
Upon inspection tonight there is some slight metal transfer into the urethane and some slight urethane transfer onto the metal ball/sleeve on a couple joints. Not bad, I can get it off with my finger nail pretty easily, they'll clean up. But I am glad I decided to tear down for cleaning and regreasing. There was a slight lube film on the ball/sleeve, the urethane on the other hand felt very dry.
One thing is for certain, I feel there is a definite need for either moly or teflon. It will likely be moly since it is in the greases I am considering. I would also very much like to not use lithium thickener for best water resistance so the grease will last as long as possible before the next complete tear down and cleaning. So that means either aluminum or calcium complexes with moly. I'm going to check on some things tomorrow and will post any updates in case people are finding this interesting.
Upon inspection tonight there is some slight metal transfer into the urethane and some slight urethane transfer onto the metal ball/sleeve on a couple joints. Not bad, I can get it off with my finger nail pretty easily, they'll clean up. But I am glad I decided to tear down for cleaning and regreasing. There was a slight lube film on the ball/sleeve, the urethane on the other hand felt very dry.
One thing is for certain, I feel there is a definite need for either moly or teflon. It will likely be moly since it is in the greases I am considering. I would also very much like to not use lithium thickener for best water resistance so the grease will last as long as possible before the next complete tear down and cleaning. So that means either aluminum or calcium complexes with moly. I'm going to check on some things tomorrow and will post any updates in case people are finding this interesting.