How often should I grease my prop shaft u/j's?

[Richard the old one]

The early prop shaft u/j's did not last long as they were supposed to be greased for life and did not have any means of greasing them once they had been fitted. On my new 1500 dolomite back in 1978 the rear U/J was one of the first things to fail at 31k miles. I also wonder if the hardening of the rollers and bearing surfaces were up to scratch.

Since moving over to the type that can be greased they have lasted a lot longer.

My question is how often should they be greased and can you over grease them and so cause them to fail?

My own assumption is that you can not over grease them as each bearing cup is not sealed tightly by the plastic seal.

I normally pump grease into each U/J until some grease starts to come out from one of the bearing cups. This does leave me to wonder if the grease has found it way to all the bearing cups as I can never get grease to come out of all the bearing cups no matter how long I go on pumping grease.

[Jon Tilson]

I suspect one of the pathways in the spider is blocked up with solidified grease and no amount of pumping frees it off with an alternative
escape route out through the other cups and end seals...

If its lasting longer than 30k then take it as a win...

Jonners

[Richard the old one]

Many thanks for the response Jon. I was beginning to think that I was not going to get any responses.

Do you pump grease into your U/Js say every 6 or 12k miles? I think I have recently been getting much more than 30k but I need to check through my records.

[Carledo]

I don't THINK it is possible to over grease (as it is with the prop sliding joint) since there is an easy exit for the excess grease.

My Dolomites UJs get a couple of pumps each on an annual basis, the lowish mileage they cover means they are serviced annually, rather than at a set mileage. This seems to work, i've not had a UJ fail in service on a Dolomite in many years, other than ungreasable ones fitted before my ownership and come to think of it, probably less than a handful of those!

Steve

[Richard the old one]

I thought that people might like to see the prop shaft history for one of my Dolomites.

The prop shaft life history of 1500HL Dolomite MDR742R (The mileages quoted are only approx)

Date Remarks Approx mileage
1977 Car purchased new
1980 Rear U/J replaced 31,000
1991 Mid U/J Defect. Spare prop fitted 125,000
1992 Exact failure N.K but Prop replaced with spare 160,000
1999 Front U/J replaced 178,000
2005 Front and middle U/J replaced plus new central bearing 230,000
2006 Front U/J replaced. n.k
2007 Exact failure N.K but replaced with professionally repaired and balanced prop 250,000
2017 The professional, obviously did a good job as still is use. 300,000

[Jon Tilson]

If you've got it...

flaunt it.

Quality....

Jonners