Greasing the Slip Joint on the driveshaft.

[DCSpecial]

We pulled my front and rear driveshafts apart earlier to grease the slip joints and I took some pics along the way.

When the rear slip joint starts to dry up you may notice a clunking noise and feeling when you come to a complete stop and from a take off. The lack of grease on the slip joint is allowing slop in the driveshaft, which is what creates the clunking sound and what you sometimes can feel through the truck.

First:
Be sure that you engage the parking brake and also chock the wheels for safety!! This is a very important step....failure to do so could result in personal injury as well as property damage.

Here's the supplies and tools that you will/may need to accomplish this:


Brake Cleaner, Grease (the Mobil 1 synthetic grease is a little over $6.00 a tube, but worth it IMO), shop towels, cable ties, and of course safety glasses.




You'll need a pry bar, 1/4" rachet with a 8mm socket, you may need a hammer, you'll need a paint pen or chalk, and some threadlocker.

Now that you have all the tools and supplies, you are ready to begin.

First, draw a line with the paint pen or chalk on the driveshaft so that you reassemle it the same way you pulled it apart.


Now, disconnect the rear driveshaft from the rear axle:


On my truck, four 8mm bolts secure the driveshaft to the axle.

Once you remove the four bolts you may need to use a pry bar to separate the driveshaft fromt the axle.

After the driveshaft is separated from the axle you'll cut the straps that hold the dust boot on and separate the driveshaft so that you can clean the slip joint. If the slip joint is very dry it may be difficult to pull the driveshaft apart and a hammer may be needed. Try and clean out as much of the old grease as possilbe....lots of shop towels and brake cleaner should do the trick.
Here's the rear driveshaft separated and cleaned, ready to be reassembled:

(the blue is a teflon coating on the slip)



In the pics you can see the white lines from the paint pen so that it gets assembled the same way it came apart.

You'll coat the splines with grease:


Once it's greased you'll want to fully compress and extend the driveshaft to make sure that it moves smoothly in and out and that you don't hear any metal on metal noise as it moves. You may need to reapply grease a couple more times to fully get the slip joint moving freely and smoothly.

You'll want to also take the time to clean up the bolts that secure the driveshaft to the axle with a wire brush and if their is any rust on the mating surface clean it up with some scotch brite.

Now that everythings greased, you can reassemble the driveshafts, bolt it back up to the rear axle (I used medium strength thread locker on the bolts) and secure the dust boot using some cable ties:

[DCSpecial]

Now for the front:

The process is the same as I posted for the rear...

I have a Long Slip (12") Driveshaft from High Angle Driveline so it may look a little different than a stocker, but the process will be the same.



The driveshaft comes without a boot. So, as you can see it makes it easier for the grease to get washed out and moisture to get inside the driveshaft. The stocker has a boot, so you'll need to cut the straps to pull the boot just as I stated for the rear. Again be sure to mark the driveshaft before you pull it apart so that you reassemble it the same way.

Once you pull the driveshaft apart (using the process I described for the rear), you'll need to clean the splines as best you can. Shop towels, a screwdriver, scotch brite (if there is any rust, etc), and brake clean should do a pretty good job of getting it clean:



Once it's clean you'll go through the same process of greasing the slip, compressing and extending it, reapplying grease, etc. until it moves freely and quietly.

After you're satisfied that it has been properly greased, go ahead and bolt it back up to the front axle....again I used medium strength thread locker on the bolts.

In an effort to protect the splines from the elements and help to keep the grease in the slip I installed a boot (it's a shock boot that I had laying around)...again, securing it with wire ties:

[Bear Hunter]

Dude....great job man. I'm gonna have to do mine soon.

[Dalpilot]

I'm going to be doing that this week, but I am going to install a grease fitting so the next time I just climb down there, and grease it with the grease gun. Thanks Dano!

[hopeful 6.0]

Thanks DCSpecial for the great write up. I did this to my truck yesterday and it elimitated the clunk just as described. It sure was annoying. Anyway, I just thought I would post of slight problem I encountered when trying to get driveshaft loose from rear end after removing the four bolts (mine were 12 mm and not 8mm). I pryed, prodded and beat on the u-joints and nothing would move. I then started truck and slowly engaged the transmission. This broke the shaft free from the rear end. A word of caution here, be ready to put back in park immediately so drive shaft won't flail around and hurt something. I had my foot on brake thinking I was going to stop it that way but duh,that only controls wheels. Also had to get a breaker bar on those bolts since they probably hadn't been loose in 4 years. Took a total of about an hour.

[weweld]

Great write up I have done this about 6 times on the F450

Mobil 1 is great stuff

[efoster_01]

Originally Posted by hopeful 6.0

Thanks DCSpecial for the great write up. I did this to my truck yesterday and it elimitated the clunk just as described. It sure was annoying. Anyway, I just thought I would post of slight problem I encountered when trying to get driveshaft loose from rear end after removing the four bolts (mine were 12 mm and not 8mm). I pryed, prodded and beat on the u-joints and nothing would move. I then started truck and slowly engaged the transmission. This broke the shaft free from the rear end. A word of caution here, be ready to put back in park immediately so drive shaft won't flail around and hurt something. I had my foot on brake thinking I was going to stop it that way but duh,that only controls wheels. Also had to get a breaker bar on those bolts since they probably hadn't been loose in 4 years. Took a total of about an hour.

Put the truck in 4WD next time and let the front brakes hold the shafts stoped.

Bone