RateNate
Thread starter
Good point... I rarely haul with the truck at all its mostly just used for hay and dump runs with mostly highway time. It squeaks when shifting from D to N or P or any other from what I noticed when parked or stopped. I usually come to a complete stop before shifting the Drive mode.Give you a recommendation just based on hundreds of Cardan shafts with U joints all over the lumber industry I have had to design and make last.
The basic joint itself is a needle bearing application where the rolling media and surfaces are hardened.
Any good grade EP grease will suffice as far as the basic tribological requirements go but then comes the loads specific to the application.
Technically the grease could last whatever the L-10 for the joint is but that's only measures in a lab at steady state and at 0 alignment deflection ( most joints can tolerate up to 21 degrees thereabouts)
As each one of those changes- the lubricant needs change so what you may need to do is look at the replenishment frequency to keep good "front line" grease in there as your load profile requires ( which may be radically different than the guy next door with the same truck). Of course the purging helps too.
I believe that activity and assessment will benefit you more in performance and reliability over the long game than hunting for a better grease.