Lubing My Shaft

[WCVanHorne]

:naughty:

After bidding adieu to my incompetent and a lying stealership I have gone back to doing my own maintenance. With my last oil change the other week I knew it was time to lubricate the drive shaft.

I thus spent an inordinate amount of time reading here and over at:

Bob Is The Oil Guy

to find the perfect greases.

Only in the internet age can one pour over numerous and massive threads arguing the merits of various greases. Amazing the flame wars and bitter arguments and recriminations that lubricants can inspire.

Anyhow I chose my two greases, Moly and Non-Moly, and then went to find them.

Luckily the Valvoline Synthetic Moly was easy; Amazon.ca carried it and it showed up in two days (along with a new cell phone case and a RJ-11/45 crimp connector, love those random orders!).

The AMSOIL Synthetic Non-Moly was a little harder. None of the local automotive or similar retailers carried AMSOIL greases and there was no reasonable way to order online from Canada.

I now tried the commercial/industrial distribution channel. Three phone calls, to three different guys (each referring me to the next), finally paid off. It was actually hilarious and felt exactly like I was trying to buy heroin or something. Every guy was sort of friendly but just gave me a name (no company) and phone number for the next guy. My final "dealer" had no physical presence and drove by with a tube, at a pre-arranged time, for cash only... This stuff must be good. :shocked:

Here are my babies just before sticking them in the guns.

 

[WCVanHorne]

I guess to add a bit more value to this thread here are the two PDF spec sheets. Both greases also have a wide operational range: -40°F to +325°F (AMSOIL) & -40°F to +400°F (Valvoline-Moly) which I thought was a good choice, particularly on the low end up here.

View attachment g2762-3.pdf

View attachment synpower_grease-3.pdf

PS. In case you don't follow the Moly wars the creed I am choosing to follow is Moly for the shaft, non-Moly for the spider/U-joints.

 

[SavageRunner]

Thanks for the info. Care to hook us up with the source of this special lube?

 

[philsey]

I insist (and make sure) my dealer lubes my shaft with my O/Cs.

I wonder what they use? Likely whatever's handy.

 

[Stifler]

there are very few people I trust with lubing my shaft.... myself, my wife and Rachel McAdams

:shocked:

 

[Mooney]

there are very few people I trust with lubing my shaft.... myself, my wife and Rachel McAdams

:shocked:

No Molly?

 

[Bad_Influence]

wish i could help, I got banned the last time I posted pics lubing my shaft :boom:

 

[WCVanHorne]

Thanks for the info. Care to hook us up with the source of this special lube?

Only applies to Edmonton. You will have to find your own local pusher. The first rule of grease club is no one talks about grease club. :wink2:

 

[1engineer]

Only applies to Edmonton. You will have to find your own local pusher. The first rule of grease club is no one talks about grease club. :wink2:

Nice. "That's a bold strategy Cotton! Let's see how this plays out!" The Ocho.

 

[hearno]

Nice. "That's a bold strategy Cotton! Let's see how this plays out!" The Ocho.

I see you subscribe to Obscure Sports Quarterly

 

[<<<<]

Slider yoke calls for Moly.

 

[Jono.ful]

I've never had to resort to the black market to find grease. Canadian Tire stocks moly and non moly here in Edmonton

 

[chmura]

So the drive shaft slip yoke calls for non moly?

I've been using the red Mobil synthetic grease on my previous tacoma that I sold. With 230,000 problem free miles I'll continue using it I guess. Doesn't seem like a crucial thing if I went 220k miles using that grease.

 

[WCVanHorne]

Slider yoke calls for Moly.

That's why I have two. The Valvoline is Moly.

 

[WCVanHorne]

I've never had to resort to the black market to find grease. Canadian Tire stocks moly and non moly here in Edmonton

Ah yes, but non-synthetic.

 

[WCVanHorne]

So the drive shaft slip yoke calls for non moly?

No the slip is ideally Moly and U/Spider joints are non-Moly.

I've been using the red Mobil synthetic grease on my previous tacoma that I sold. With 230,000 problem free miles I'll continue using it I guess. Doesn't seem like a crucial thing if I went 220k miles using that grease.

That's another popular non-Moly choice for the U/Spider joints. Seems to de-emulsify (probably a better word for that) easier than the AMSOIL though.

 

[WCVanHorne]

So just got out from under the truck and am really glad I grabbed a several 16" hose extensions that were on clearance at Home Depot (only $2.50 a piece). One of these and a $1.50 1/8" NPT coupler from Princess Auto made things a lot more pleasant in cramped quarters to pump.

Pro-Tip 1: If you are going to lubricate under there without a lift/pit then it's really nice to have a long enough hose to have the gun further away, to the side, etc.

Pro-Tip 2: Write on the handle with a marker which grease in in which gun (particularly if they are identical guns).