1929 Spicer U Joint - plug and lube

[Poppy510]

Hello again, Just noticed the rear U-joind devoid of a plug/zirc. The front u joint has a zirc. According to the operation and care manual it should have a plug and should be filled with "gear lube...NEVER CUP GREASE."

 

What is the best solution here - put in a few tablespoons of heavy gear oil and place a plug, or install a zirc and a few squirts of #2 grease? Same question with the front U joint.

 

thank you all again!

[Poppy510]

I have read on this forum that you need to pull off the spring retainer and slide the cup back to access and grease the joint. Is that right? What is the grease fitting for? I assumed mine was missing and dry as a bone.

[Taylormade]

Yes, that's a shot of my u-joint.  I took mine apart, and I'm glad I did as one of my bearings was shot.  You have to pry the spring off and pop it back.  I obviously had to remove the zerk fitting to get mine off.  The the dome will slide off.  I was lucky, the bad bearing was in the front u-joint and I had a spare on another transmission.  The rear u-joint is attached to the driveshaft (welded on) and I'm not sure how you would handle that.  On the rear u-joint you have to slide the spring and the dome all the way down the driveshaft to get hem completely off.  The second larger dome is held on by the mounting blots and two smaller bolts.  You can see one of the smaller bolts at the one o'clock position in this photo.

 

 

Once you get both dome pieces off, this is what you will find.

 

 

After I cleaned it up and checked the bearing, I discovered the cork gasket on the smaller dome was shot.  It came out in pieces, hard and dried out.

 

 

I found some cork sheet of the correct thickness on EBay and cut strips to the proper length and installed them in the slot in the dome.

 

 

I then filled the large inner dome with lube and bolted it one after making a new gasket.  I lubed the cork gasket on the small dome, slipped it on and installed the spring.

 

 

Since everything inside looked okay I went with the original setup.  I doubt that I could have found parts to repair anything broken.  As much as i would have hated to do it, I probably would have had a new driveshaft made with modern joints.

 

In your case, I would install a zerk and pump the lube in - a few tablespoons is not enough.  And I would bet your cork gasket/seal is rock hard and not doing its job.

[nearchoclatetown]

Taylormade, do you think an o ring would be a good substitute for the cork? The material can be bought by the foot and super glued together to make any diameter needed. 

[Taylormade]

In theory it seems like that would work.  I found the cork to be easy to work with and the perfect size.  Since it was what was originally used, I went with it.  My only reservation would be that the slot for the cork is square with right angle sides.  I’d be afraid that the rubber o ring might slip out of the slot given that it’s round and the slot is square.

[nearchoclatetown]

OK

[Ron Lawson]

We can get square rubber O rings down here in Aust.

[Taylormade]

1 hour ago, Ron Lawson said:

We can get square rubber O rings down here in Aust.

There you go - you learn something every day.  I had no clue.

[JACK M]

They are called quad rings.

[Gotfredson]

I know this is an old string but it looks like the Spicer dome seal in my 1923 truck was braided graphite packing.  Not sure if that was original.  I might try 3/8" square packing. 

[Gotfredson]

FYI... 3/8" packing rope was too thick.  I went with 1/4" packing rope and it's a nice fit in the groove.

[nat]

On 12/19/2020 at 8:46 PM, Taylormade said:

I’d be afraid that the rubber o ring might slip out of the slot given that it’s round and the slot is square.

     The correct groove shape for round O rings is square(ish).  Sometimes dovetailed but not round.