What u-joint brand for the front wheels, do people recommend? (Most reliable/strongest, affordable.)

for me if you are not doing extreme offroading, get the spicer ujoints with the grease nipple. I do a lot of offroading and want the extra strength so i go with the non greaseable ujoints. the non greaseable usually last about 100,000 miles. I personally go with Spicer ujoints all around, steering wheel ujoints, front driveshaft ujoints, rear driveshaft ujoints.

I do not do a lot of offroading like CDP but still have the OE joints on my truck. Spicer non greseable is what is on it and I would be hard pressed not to put the same back on it. 375lk miles on the truck.

1 hour ago, dripley said:

I do not do a lot of offroading like CDP but still have the OE joints on my truck. Spicer non greseable is what is on it and I would be hard pressed not to put the same back on it. 375lk miles on the truck.

 

Like myself I lost my OEM joints well before 100k miles and switch to grease-able and now they are last well over 100k miles. I do travel a lot of dirt roads, mud, snow, salted roads, etc. Sealed u-joints there is no way to push out the water or old grease.

Can someone post a link to the product? 

Something like?

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/NPJP330/NPJP330_0325356452

I have used the Sealed OEM Spicer U-Joints the guys I talk to at Six States locally here have said they recommend them over the greasable ones.  I just did my rear drive shaft ones and they are what I used.  Seemings how the OEM ones lasted around 250K I felt good about going this route. 

I'd say most of us will get acceptable life out of either assuming they are good quality.  

Both are probably good, but I personally prefer the greasable ones

I forget to grease them haha, so I stick to non - grease.

Edited June 1, 20168 yr by Me78569

2 hours ago, Me78569 said:

I forget to grease them haha, so I stick to non - grease.

I am with you on that one.

When it comes to oil change time the grease gun and oil change occur at the same time. I even pull the front shaft out so I can grease the 2 near the transfer case.

I no longer run greasable and only use Spicer non-greaseable.  Why.....?  Because greaseable has a weak single seal to allow grease to escape as you pump in new goo.  That single lip seal also allows dirt, water, and any contaminants to enter the cap which will grind away until you find time to shove it out.

 

On the other hand, non-greaseable has a strong three lip seal which snaps in place to not only keep all that grease in the cap but to keep all the dirt, water, and other contaminants out.

 

There will always be vast variables of failure rates based on who you talk to but typically a non-greaseable will outlast a greaseable simply because the last thing on your mind is regularly getting under your truck and keeping the u-joints lubed up.

I agree with Katoom. The local Six States does as well and IIRC they don't even stock the greasable ones for my truck anymore as they weren't lasting as long. 

 

Another thought for those of use that have a bit more power than our trucks came with is that non-greaseable are stronger than their greasable counterpart of the same size/design spec. This is due to the greasbles joints being center drilled for the grease passage. 

 

So non-greasable are stronger, sealed better, and generally last longer. 

 

Once an oil change is not often enough to be greasing u-joints, for the miles on a OCI and how much dirt I drive on, and I don't want to deal with it more often than that. I already have to grease the wifes every 5K miles, but her rig rarely leaves town and doesn't tow. She has 140K miles on the OEM Toyota u-joints. 

Every non-greasable I have pulled apart has been drilled in the center and grease stuffed in the hole, so im not sure if the strength comment is correct or not. The last one I pulled apart had metal pieces in the hole as well. That was on the side that was still good. That tells me the holes go all the way through. 

Interesting. What brand?

A greaseable and a non greaseable joint both made by precision. Both have the exact same seal and both are drilled all the way through. 

I wonder if Spicer and AAM are different? The seal and hole info I was given was specific to the 3rd Gen applications for both of those brands. 

 

Makes you wonder??

Of course I dont have any pictures to prove it..... but the Spicer joints I have on my truck were solid ends and the cap seals were nothing of the same.  I guess it just goes to show that not all brands are worth buying.

I looked at both spicers when doing my rear shaft, grease able ones obviously were drilled all the way and had cheaper seals, and non grease ables were also drilled but only about 3/4" deep to hold extra grease and had a really good seal. I told the guy to put non grease able ones in but when I came to pick it up it had grease able kind in there, he offered to change them out at no cost but they were so busy I know it was an honest mistake so I left it be and figured I'll try them out, plus he already had it balanced. They do make a mess even after I grease them and wipe everything clean. Also you have to make sure that grease comes out of all caps, I found that by giving a grease gun handle quick hits it forces grease out of a seal that's not getting any. And if that don't work then I use a small smooth hook and carefully pull on the seal lip as I'm pumping grease in, that works all the time but you have to be very careful especially on older seals. You don't need to pull to hard or far, just enough for air to come out. 

the spicer non grease joints are drilled just a hair to fit more grease in. they are inherently stronger than the spicer greasable as those are drilled through plus the nipple hole (makes them weaker) but they are still tough as hell.

 

i go spicer products all the time, dana makes them and have so for many years.