Jump to content

Greasing UJs I give up


Andrew

Recommended Posts

On 27/08/2019 at 07:34, Pete Lewis said:

These are the old nutshell to  grease or not to grease   

Sealed for life ,  what life

Whilst there plenty of experience with crap UJ from over  sea's any decent unit will last as long as as the originals

Or there  abouts   , most were not greasable and have the myth of only lasting well beyond their expected life

Yes they have a hard life  on a drive  shaft but  many have managed to out liven expectation

A good branded uj greased as supplied will not require regular servicing, especially with the limited mileages many manage.

The ones you are replacing have probably lasted 20 to40  years   its a bit late to loose sleep over.

Service whats intended and drive ....more than worry more   keep  things in  perspective

Well its hot  again 

Pete

 

"Service whats intended and drive ....more than worry more   keep  things in  perspective"

Very wise words Pete. I've stopped almost all work this year on the can to actually get out and drive it. It's been the first time I've enjoyed driving in years.

 

SP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was checking the diff oil level and also took a look at the UJ,s . They are greaseable and the flat screw came out but tried a long grease nipple but it wouldn’t fit as the collar of the extended nipple caught against the yoke and cross threading felt highly likely I suppose I need a short one ?

FF0769A7-8114-4698-A15D-00AF3C34370E.thumb.jpeg.37156436e7dffc6ea0e5eca9f25118ec.jpeg5DE7DC01-68B5-4F26-A4AE-5AC15988D1BB.thumb.jpeg.bd203886b1bc589d6937b86e9939a95f.jpeg

 

Paul 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Paul H said:

I suppose I need a short one ?

But using that, means the gun then fouls?, which I assume was the reason the post was about lack of success with a long nipple.

Messed about with all this myself and will go with the above advice "not worth the hassle"?.

Dave 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 28/08/2019 at 15:41, s99sdp said:

 

Very wise words Pete. I've stopped almost all work this year on the can to actually get out and drive it. It's been the first time I've enjoyed driving in years.

SP

Never drove a can, meself... but it sure sounds like fun.

2 hours ago, Paul H said:

I was checking the diff oil level and also took a look at the UJ,s . They are greaseable and the flat screw came out but tried a long grease nipple but it wouldn’t fit as the collar of the extended nipple caught against the yoke and cross threading felt highly likely I suppose I need a short one ?

Paul 

THAT, as Dave says, is indeed the problem. I think, if you jack the car up, and rotate the axle, you'll find one direction only that you have enough room where the yoke opens up due to the angle, but I haven't yet confirmed this myself. Otherwise, it's difficult to get anything to fit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colin L I'll bench test the oil can again with new refluxed nipples to see if the oil will flow through.

Poppyman, Johny & Pete I'll ensure the ball is free by probing the nipple orifice with a straightened paperclip, but just the thought will bring tears to my eyes, being a sensitive type of guy!

Grumpy

aka Peter T

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Paul H said:

I was checking the diff oil level and also took a look at the UJ,s . They are greaseable and the flat screw came out but tried a long grease nipple but it wouldn’t fit as the collar of the extended nipple caught against the yoke and cross threading felt highly likely I suppose I need a short one ?

FF0769A7-8114-4698-A15D-00AF3C34370E.thumb.jpeg.37156436e7dffc6ea0e5eca9f25118ec.jpeg5DE7DC01-68B5-4F26-A4AE-5AC15988D1BB.thumb.jpeg.bd203886b1bc589d6937b86e9939a95f.jpeg

 

Paul 

Is that circlip located properley Paul ??  It looks to be out on one side...or is it just the photo?

Tony.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's my special UJ home made grease nipple, I think I made it around 30yrs ago, yes its only 1/8in copper oil pressure pipe so obviously you have to be careful but hey its survived 4 Triumphs and a Jag XJ & it still gets used at least once a year on 3 Triumphs but only UJ's. Overall its 4cm long & the ends are just soft soldered on. Tightening up I use a small 1/4 socket just hand tight or a little nip up, every so often the stem gets bent but straightens up Ok till now!!

Peter T659594948_HomemadeGreaseNipple.JPG.297fa609128176698c3e009fe99f3164.JPG

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, poppyman said:

Is that circlip located properley Paul ??  It looks to be out on one side...or is it just the photo?

Tony.

Hi Andrew . Well spotted . I’ve checked and whilst they are not in fully they are catching the groove in most places. When I changed the ujs 3 years ago the circlips wouldn’t fit so I ground them down a fraction . I didn’t realise I could get thinner ones so will get some and replace . If I can not sort in situ I will have to remove the drive shaft and doughnut assembly ??? Lovely job 😡 

I did notice the Ujs had grease on the outside and removing the blanking screw the grease was still fresh so looks like there’s plenty in there , 

Thanks again for spotting the issue 

Paul 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 29/08/2019 at 17:00, Colin Lindsay said:

Never drove a can, meself... but it sure sounds like fun.

THAT, as Dave says, is indeed the problem. I think, if you jack the car up, and rotate the axle, you'll find one direction only that you have enough room where the yoke opens up due to the angle, but I haven't yet confirmed this myself. Otherwise, it's difficult to get anything to fit.

It feels like I'm in a can when I'm doing 60mph on the A14 and an articulated lorry basically runs over me.    :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said:

I suppose in these days of recycling there's no telling what the metal in your car used to be... :)

During the 2nd World War people used to donate garden railings, pots and pans to be boiled down for the war effort. So not a new idea. I like to think my GT6 has Spitfire bits, not Hurricane as that would be silly, they were made of wood. 

Doug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're thinking of the Mosquito, doug, the Wooden Wonder, faster than a Spitfire!

Hurricanes had a steel and aluminium frame, aumented with wood formers to shape the early fabric fuselage skin, later replace d by stressed aluminium panels.   The wings were always stressed alloy.

John

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, JohnD said:

You're thinking of the Mosquito, doug, the Wooden Wonder, faster than a Spitfire!

Yup, wrong again! Thanks John.

 

34 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Did you know that not one of the aluminium saucepans donated by the public during the war - and there were millions - ever went towards building an aeroplane?

No I didn't know that. How do you know that? :)

Doug

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems to be the theme on a number of historical websites and is currently being taught in schools - my other half was studying WW2 with the children and told me that it was an exercise to make people feel like they were 'doing their bit'. Although records were shredded soon after the war, the National Archives states:

Posters, information leaflets and slogans persuaded and reminded everyone that they had a part to play in fighting the war on the 'Home Front'. 'Saucepans for Spitfires' was one of the most famous campaigns. People were asked to give their aluminium pans so that they could be melted down to make parts for aircraft. In fact the government did not need any more aluminium but it believed the appeal meant people felt that they were doing something to defeat Hitler and helped to keep morale up.

Lord Beaverbrook himself claimed we have more than enough aluminium, we need pilots!

It's rumoured that a lot of the railings and things donated were dumped in the Thames estuary from barges... some have claimed that low-grade metal from railings etc was used in bomb casings but not aeroplanes. It's nice to think that the metal played more of a part than just a morale booster, but it seems the donations were just never used.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting.

The Chinese did the same thing during the "great push forward" or whatever it was called. The population gave up all their utensils and promptly starved to death as they had nothing to cook stuff in. They were told it was for military purposes, but Chairman Mao just wanted less population.

Doug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...