Front axle u joint part numbers?

[DocPaulo]

Looking to replace my u joints. My ball joints are shot so might as well do them all...

I want to use spicer but cant find the right party number..

[TwinStick]

Call George at 8 lug.

http://www.8lugtruckgear.com/Drivetrain ... ints-c177/

http://www.8lugtruckgear.com/Drivetrain ... ints-c167/

[DocPaulo]

Call George at 8 lug.

http://www.8lugtruckgear.com/Drivetrain ... ints-c177/

http://www.8lugtruckgear.com/Drivetrain ... ints-c167/

Thanks

[DocPaulo]

Also found moog 479 may fit... they were available locally so i will try them out... if not I'll get the spicers

[DamageWagon]

Why would you possibly run Moog in place of Spicers... Moog parts have zero place being installed on these trucks. Spicer is pretty much the de-facto U-joint option for daily driven trucks. You're probably better off not changing any worn parts on your truck than downgrading anything to Moog.

[DocPaulo]

Moog i got are mexico made... spicers i hear are now china?

That said I'd use spicers if they had them locally..

[TwinStick]

What ever you choose is obviously up to you. But, the reason the factory u-joints (& Moogs) go bad so fast, is because they only have a single seal. The Spicer/Dana ones with the "X" in the part # have 3 little ridges (known as a triple lip seal) in the rubber seal, making dirt & water intrusion much less likely & therefore last longer. My factory ones only lasted 18k. That's why I said to contact George @ 8Lug, he knows this stuff like the back of his hand. Tell him what you want & he will hook you up.

[DocPaulo]

What ever you choose is obviously up to you. But, the reason the factory u-joints (& Moogs) go bad so fast, is because they only have a single seal. The Spicer/Dana ones with the "X" in the part # have 3 little ridges (known as a triple lip seal) in the rubber seal, making dirt & water intrusion much less likely & therefore last longer. My factory ones only lasted 18k. That's why I said to contact George @ 8Lug, he knows this stuff like the back of his hand. Tell him what you want & he will hook you up.

Thanks.. i honestly want to order them but i have to install them this week due to some other commitments

U joints are easy enough to swap later on, when they fail ill get the spicers...

I may actually choose to not do them if push comes to shove and wait to redo them in the summer when i have time... they are cheap enough that its not a big deal one way or the other... if it looks like my u joints will last another 4 to 5 mos ill hold off on thr swap...

I have to put in my emf ball joints this week, thus the thought to do them all

Not sound analogy i know, but its my situation

[DamageWagon]

You aren’t wasting much time by not doing u-joints at the same time as ball joints. I anti-seize my unit bearings when i take them out and removal is a lot easier. My joints are running on 7 Years with no issues EXCEPT the front driveshaft. The cardan joints in the front shaft let go right at 100,000 miles at grenades the shaft and transfer case. If you’re changing anything preemptively it should be your front driveshaft cardan.

[DocPaulo]

You aren’t wasting much time by not doing u-joints at the same time as ball joints. I anti-seize my unit bearings when i take them out and removal is a lot easier. My joints are running on 7 Years with no issues EXCEPT the front driveshaft. The cardan joints in the front shaft let go right at 100,000 miles at grenades the shaft and transfer case. If you’re changing anything preemptively it should be your front driveshaft cardan.

Thanks... i probably will keep them... i wanted something on hand in case it was shot and had to do it as well... nice thing with local parts i can return it with no loss

I appreciate the comments...

anybody ever drill the spicer caps and put needle or zirk grease fittings?

And do you have a preferred anti seize? So many options out there

[DamageWagon]

If you want greasable joints, buy greasable joints.

Anti-seize is pretty standard I think. Anything branded by loctite or permatex is probably fine. If you plan to use it for other things you might get more picky, there’s copper based, high temp, etc. but for just general applications like the unit bearings it will never matter. Just something to keep things from sticking together so bad.

[Retired BLM Rig]

anybody ever drill the spicer caps and put needle or zirk grease fittings?

No can do. The caps are made of hardened kryptonite. Also I don't think theres a grease passage through the cross section of the joint, which make them stronger than a grease type joint. (solid iron vs. hollow)

[RustyPW]

There is no cross-drilling on u-joints without the grease fitting that I have found. So if you want to drill a cap. You will only be greasing that one cap. And you better have some good drill bits too. That's hard metal.

As for ball-joints. If you get ball-joints that have splines on the fit area. The splines tear up the fit area on the axle. So the next time you replace the ball-joints. You may have to replace the axle housing because the ball-joints are now loose in that fit area. I have read about this happening on a couple of different forums.

Couple of different types of anti-seize. The 2 most common. Copper, and nickel. The nickel is for higher heat apps on stainless and other alloys. We used the copper on steam turbines, and the nickel on gas turbines. For auto use. You can use either one.

[DocPaulo]

There is no cross-drilling on u-joints without the grease fitting that I have found. So if you want to drill a cap. You will only be greasing that one cap. And you better have some good drill bits too. That's hard metal.

As for ball-joints. If you get ball-joints that have splines on the fit area. The splines tear up the fit area on the axle. So the next time you replace the ball-joints. You may have to replace the axle housing because the ball-joints are now loose in that fit area. I have read about this happening on a couple of different forums.

Couple of different types of anti-seize. The 2 most common. Copper, and nickel. The nickel is for higher heat apps on stainless and other alloys. We used the copper on steam turbines, and the nickel on gas turbines. For auto use. You can use either one.

Thanks.. good to know... one of the reasons i bought emf ball joints.. they are not splined

[DocPaulo]

For those curious..

Moog 479 will fit and so will spicer 5-3212x