Last week I pulled my front shaft off to inspect it and try to get some grease into the centering ball area; my shaft was rebuilt here in Houston 4 years back with greasable u-joints. Anyway, I noticed a small chip and possible hairline crack where the rear flange (transfer case end) holds the u-joint and wanted to get an opinion on it so I took it to the place where I had it rebuilt, Houston Drive Train Services.

They suggested removing the u-joint to better inspect it and the flange shattered on their workbench! Both parts of the flange that secure the u-joint just snapped off. I guess it could have been worse as it could have done this while on the vehicle!

Anyway they had to order the correct size replacement flange and the good thing is the new one came with a small needle type zerk grease fitting so now I can grease the centering ball. Since they had it on the work bench I just went ahead and had them put in all new Neapco Performance Dynamic u-joints and a new centering ball. The cost for those parts and the extra labor didn't really add much more to the bill.

 

Was it an OE propshaft? If so, what's the PN of the center head they use? That's the part that has the grease fitting for the centering ball.

 

photos?

 

yes photos please.. I am confused (as usual)
does this mean you can grease centering ball without dropping it?

 

Well I haven't gotten that far as a need to re-grease it while it is on the truck yet because they did it at the shop. When you flex the double cardon joint you can get to the needle style fitting but I'm not sure how that will work on the vehicle since the joint flexes the opposite way when on the vehicle. I'll try to get under there today or tomorrow and look.

 

No, when I had the OEM one rebuilt there in 2009 they built me a new one but I am not sure if the flanges or double cardon were reused. The tubing is a bigger diameter than a stock shaft.

My receipt says the following with parenthesis for the column heading
(Product Line) RKF
(Quantity) 1
(Part #) R2-21-3191
(Description) C.V. Flange
(Price) $115.50

Under that is the u-joints, I supplied my own new centering ball assembly so was not charged for one.

(Product Line) NEA
(Quantity) 3
(Part #) 1-0153PD
(Description) U-Joint, Neapco Performance Dynamic
(Unit Price) $18.90
(Extended Price) $56.70

Labor was $35 and they added $12 for the shipping on the flange. They checked the balance and it did not need any weights attached. I should add that the u-joints have the more typical zerk grease fitting but it is in the axis and not out on the end of the cup, and they are stamped "Made in USA"

Unfortunately I didn't take any before or after pictures as I needed to get it up and running right away. I will try to get under there shortly and see what I can photograph that shows the needle zerk port.

 

Ok, the weather is nice so I crawled under with my Canon 5D and a macro lens and a flash light but I can't get very good depth of field.

First shot is just to show the entire drive shaft
second shot is my best attempt to see between the knuckles of the flange and the cardon joint to get a shot of the zerk fitting on the side of the housing for the centering ball.
shot 3 is just a blowup using Photoshop of the previous shot.

I put the T-case into neutral and jacked up the front axle to spin the shaft and take these pictures but it looks like I will still have to drop the end at the T-case in order to flex the cardon and flanges to get a grease needle in there. Still it is better than no fitting at all.

 

Just bumping this back up the line to see if I get any response to my pictures. I wish I had photographed the shaft before putting it back on as doing it afterwards is hard! I've never actually disassembled a double cardon joint so I am just going by the tutorials I see for the design of it.

In looking at the tutorial at www.discovery2.co.uk / Workshop :- front and Rear propshaft
I wonder if the shop that rebuilt my shaft added the grease fitting to the dust cap. These 2 images from the page linked here show the lower flange and the upper flange that is attached to the drive line. From the looks of it you would only be able to put a grease fitting on the side of the dust cap shown in the second image.

 

No, it's the actual center head that has a grease fitting, as shown here.