Help with U-Joint Grease

[klt1986]

Greased a couple of my u-joints on my Tundra tonight and realized I was using Lucas Xtra Heavy Duty grease(the green polyurea). In the lowlight I grabbed the wrong grease gun. What should I do? Could I simply lube the affected u-joints again or lube them more frequently? Should have known better than to get in a rush!

 

[Trav]

Just pump new grease through them till you see new grease.

 

[vssjim]

not sure what the worry is as I'm sure it will be fine as I have said only u joints or slip splines go bad on Toyotas have been ones that were not greased, so greasing them you are way ahead of most. I have also never seen a Toyota come from a Toyota dealer greased only if it came from another indie garage even though it states in manual to grease them often.

 

[klt1986]

Originally Posted by Trav
Just pump new grease through them till you see new grease.




Would you recommend doing this as soon as I can or would it hurt to run it a while before pumping new grease in? Recommendations on grease?

 

[klt1986]

Originally Posted by vssjim
not sure what the worry is as I'm sure it will be fine as I have said only u joints or slip splines go bad on Toyotas have been ones that were not greased, so greasing them you are way ahead of most. I have also never seen a Toyota come from a Toyota dealer greased only if it came from another indie garage even though it states in manual to grease them often.



Kind of been my experience too. Not sure what could or would happen if I left the lucas in there?

 

[vssjim]

I have used Lucas HD grease with good results. I would use also Lucas Red and Tacky or even Lucas Marine grease on u joints and not worry the only the one I don't recommend is Lucas 5 percent moly grease for U joints but would use it in splines.

 

[anndel]

Just leave them in and don't worry about it. Pump in new preferred grease at the next oil change and sleep well.

 

[Trav]

I use Mobil 1 synthetic (Red) on u joints as recommended by the drive shaft shop I use. I think a higher viscosity lube may cause the needles to drag. personally I would grease it when its convenient,
PM member Kestas or Molacule, they will know.

 

[Kestas]

U-joints are a special application that see micromotion. It may be counterintuitive, but it is better to use a lighter grease. Micromotion of the needles push the grease aside. Lighter grease has a better chance of reflowing under the needles.

I generally recommend Kluberplex BEM 34-132.
It is Grade 1.5.
It is calcium-based to resist washout.
It is recommended for micromotion applications such as u-joints.
It has good life at elevated temperatures, which I calculated is 100,000 miles for automotive use.

 

[klt1986]

Thanks for the information. I will look into the Kluberplex.

Would you recommend getting a thinner grease in there quickly or waiting until next oil change?

 

[Kestas]

I think you'll be okay for the meanwhile.

 

[Lubener]

If you grease the fitting regularly, I wouldn't be to worried about which grease to use. I have been using the multi purpose stuff once a year and never had a problem.

 

[willbur]

At almost $95 (Amazon) a tube? Get real!

 

[klt1986]

Originally Posted by willbur
At almost $95 (Amazon) a tube? Get real!



I thought the same thing....certainly too much for my blood. I plan to crawl underneath in a couple thousand miles and add some brand of lithium based NLGI#2 grease and then do it again at my next oil change.

 

[bchannell]

The first thing I would do is a google search for Lucas PU compatiblity with whatever grease you normally use. There are two different PU greases, one which is NOT compatible with almost any other grease, and the other is compaitble with lots of others including the more common Lithium greases. If it's compatible, then forget it. If it's not, I still wouldn't worry too much. If you read Spicer recommendations on grease it mentions somewhere in the literature that over greasing is not possible for U joints, so I would just flush it out with new grease of the your liking.