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Transmission and universal joints

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  ewalberg 
#1 ·
I was told that I should grease the transmission and universal joints regularly (1 a month) on my 1990 463 G-class.

Is that absolutely neccesary.

What is the most important thing in maintenance for a G-class. What should I look out for?

I live in ALbania. The roads are in bad condition.
 
#2 ·
I think it is absolutely critical to grease the U-Joints regularly. I grease mine every 3000 miles, when I change the oil. If they get submerged in water it would be smart to grease them immediatly. They are designed for long service life if they get grease. The problem is people neglect to do this and they die a premature death. In the US each of those shafts is well over $1000 US Dollars. A tube of the best grease I can buy is $8.00. It takes about 10 minutes. The transmission, transfer case and front and rear differentials all require oil changes and I do mine once a year. Take care of this stuff and your G will handle all of the bad roads in Albania.

-Dai
 
#3 ·
Christof,

well, you can't grease the transmission but the shaft between transmission and transfer case, as well as the front and rear drive shafts should be serviced often.

If you find it difficult to grease the funnel shaped grease nipples - you can easily replace them with spherical grease nipples.

Since properly maintained drive shafts are vital for vibration free performance, they need to be well taken care of. Replacements are extremely expensive.

If I would buy a used G I would always take the drive shafts off at the differential (don't bother with the center shaft). Mark the flanges for proper refitting! Check position of arrow on shaft and mark its position. After taking one side off (takes time and effort), pull the shaft apart and clean out the slip joint from old grease. Fill partially with fresh grease. Insert shaft (lining up the arrow with reference point). Check if the shaft will fit to the diff flange. If you have a hard time compressing the shaft to make it fit, you have too much grease in the slip joint. Remove some. The flanges (diff and drive shaft) should be about 2" apart when compressing the shaft.
After this intial slip joint service, never grease more than 3 or 4 strokes with grease gun at each service. Overfilling the slip joint is one of the major causes of bearing failure inside the transfer case. The grease inside the slip joint puts too much pressure on the transfer case - especially when the suspension moves up and the drive shaft needs to compress.

The U-joints should be intially greased liberally until only fresh grease emerges from the seals. Pump until there are no more streaks of dark old grease coming out. Using a light colored grease helps. Grease often (always until fresh grease emerges)- at least with every engine oil change.

I have all the service manuals available - but you knew that already.

Servicing your G well will reward you with an almost unlimited life of your G. And most importantly it will keep repair cost down dramatically. Neglect your G and you'll have to pay dearly.

Harald
 

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#4 ·
front wheel bearings...

also make sure your front wheel bearings are in need of replacement. If you recently purchased it, it might be due for the service. Not replacing them in a timely manner can cost a fantastic amount of money... and just replacing them is reasonably expensive, but ultimately necessary.

Also on greasing the driveline, someone made the grease gun recomendation to get a flexible hose for it and fit the appropriate cone tip on the end. This has proven quite useful. I think i've never had to move the truck more than once to grease all available fittings.
 
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