The Invisible Front Universal Joint Lube Nipple

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Brakelate

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When doing my first Service on my brand new truck, I noticed a "Maintenance Advisement" Sticker on the inside front of the Driver Side fender (shown).

It recommends lubricating the front driveshaft at each oil change interval. Then, there is a small diagram pointing to where the grease fitting should be.

I COULD NOT locate this lube nipple on my first attempt, and eventually got frustrated and skipped it.

So, I went to perform another service on the PW yesterday, and again went searching for this elusive nipple. I looked on the front Universal Joint, where it mates with the front Diff, and then looked all over the front double Universal Joint assembly where it meets the Transfer Case. I crawled in, over and through the whole damn front driveshaft looking for this thing, and for the life of me, CANNOT find it. The factory sticker makes it appear to be on the leading side of the back half of the front driveshaft. I went so far as to move the truck back and forth several times, making sure I was able to inspect all sides and angles of this assembly as it rotated around.

Still No Luck! Am I crazy, or is this sticker there for other models, or am I simply missing it somehow????

Not sure if all Solid Front Axle trucks have this sticker, or if it is a Power Wagon - Specific issue.

I have included pics, of the front Universal Joint (pretty basic) and the rear double - joint assembly, looking from the front and from the rear. It is a bit hard to get into, let alone photograph. But, I am pulling what little hair out that I have left in searching for this mystery lube spot.

Anyone know where it is, or if it has been discontinued or is a bogus sticker referring to another model?

Thanks!
 

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Brakelate

Brakelate

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Well, I'll be damned. In all my years, I've never seen such a thing.

THANK YOU for the post, the pics and joining the board!

Welcome my friend. I will now go about searching the globe for a proper lube tip and will mark mine as you did for future reference.

*I wonder how many go their entire lives neglected because they are VERY hard to locate and few, if any "do it yourself" maintenance guys have such a fitting in their bag of tricks.

I can't tell you the time I spent crawling, stretching, feeling and searching for this lube point. Then again, I was expecting a typical "infant *****" fitting to latch on to. I never would have guessed it would be a "female" insertion point stashed way up in there.

Thanks again. You just may very well have saved me from a very ugly, inconvenient and ultimately extremely expensive repair at some point well down the road in the ownership of this vehicle. I'll get after it right away and report back how it goes.

:happy160:
 
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Brakelate

Brakelate

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*As a side note, I see something has rubbed on your shaft as well.

In searching for this thing, I too found that something had rubbed a shiny "ring" on my shaft. I discovered it to be a poorly placed electrical line that had drooped down and was making contact. Though it was wrapped in ribbed wiring loom protector, it would have eventually worn through.

All it took, was a little finger pressure to re-adjust the line and take some slack out of it right before the push pin type holder just above that is supposed to keep it snug to the floorboard.

I will check again next time I am under it, but I think it is staying up and out of the way now.

Glad I took the time to look. I frequently see odd marks in my various driveshafts. Typically from brush, tumbleweeds, old bailing wire or barbed wire fencing that gets kicked up and wrapped around them. The pretty fat aluminum rear one occasionally spins in sand when I happen to bury the rear of the truck up to the hubs or when nosing over a steep drop off. I always check for dents, to make sure the weights are still intact and that sort of thing to prevent catastrophic failure at high speed when jumping back on the highway after some extreme trail use. But, that loom was a new one.

Just thought I would share.
 

Ionicbrick

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You guys know what size that grease needle is? Changed my oil today and couldn't find the zerk so I searched this topic. When I look online it looks like there are different sizes....
 

KarL45

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Been there/ Done that on my 2014 2500. LOL Finally after having the same results, asked the service advisor. They said that was on previous models. Would have to concur as I even used a light and small inspection mirror. If you should ever find it, pleas let everyone know where.
 
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Brakelate

Brakelate

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OK, I am ashamed to admit this, like a "dirty little secret" or something;

But, I NEVER found this thing or Lubed it, after the great second post in the top of this thread.

I could not find the port, so I never even searched for the tool. And, this is about 15 months and 15k miles ago! And this sees sand, snow, and more often, is up to the floor boards in creek crossings very frequently, so I worry about it.

So, you could not find it either??? I thought it was only me, and that everyone else with the same set up had found it by now.

Time to revisit this with another crawl under the truck, or trip to the nearest dealership, which is well over 100 miles away for me. :baby:
 

reek

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so to revive an old thread...

has anyone found the front drive shaft zerk? I was just under my truck trying to grease the front drive shaft as the sticker in the engine bay dictates. I looked, searched, stuck my finger in all sorts of crevices. No nipple. I know my way around nipples and I still can NOT find where or what to grease.

If anyone can confirm it's existence I'm going to put the truck on a lift and keep looking.

any help appreciated.
 

Rustycowl69

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I don't think it's called a "zerk" fitting. Years ago when I was a machinist, many of our machines had those little fittings. If I remember correctly though, we would pump oil not grease into them.
 

Low_Sky

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It's in there, you may need to clean the joint up to find it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

sandawilliams

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Thanks

Thanks to all who took the time to explain where this zerk is. To the Ram engineers who came up with this POS FITTING- I HATE YOU.
 

jtcarlsen67

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So I did a little research on another site. It seems this is the part you are all looking for. The rubber/plastic tip fits into the concave portion of the zerk and will seal as you pump grease through the fitting. I do not have any experience with this personally but didn't see this option discussed here so I thought maybe this would help some of you out.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21PNv3JgIKL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
(copy and paste to your browser)

you can find it on amazon - part #LNI 83278


Also someone had said that using old fashioned lever grease gun made it difficult to apply pressure to fitting and still be able to pump lever on the gun so he tried this product and when you push the grease handle it applies pressure in the direction of said fitting. You could also opt for a small hand held grease gun as well I guess.

https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Chain...80445460&sr=1-1&keywords=chainsaw+grease+gun'

Again, no personal experience but another option to try.

I love this forum...I'm going to look really smart after being educated on all of your experiences. Thanks for sharing.

Tim
 

Rustycowl69

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So I did a little research on another site. It seems this is the part you are all looking for. The rubber/plastic tip fits into the concave portion of the zerk and will seal as you pump grease through the fitting. I do not have any experience with this personally but didn't see this option discussed here so I thought maybe this would help some of you out.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21PNv3JgIKL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
(copy and paste to your browser)

you can find it on amazon - part #LNI 83278




https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Chain...80445460&sr=1-1&keywords=chainsaw+grease+gun'

Again, no personal experience but another option to try.

I love this forum...I'm going to look really smart after being educated on all of your experiences. Thanks for sharing.

Tim

that is similar to the one I use, except mine does not have rubber tip. got mine at harbor freight. I think they might have them at a bike store, too.
 
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Rustycowl69

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Thanks to all who took the time to explain where this zerk is. To the Ram engineers who came up with this POS FITTING- I HATE YOU.

that style fitting has been around longer than anyone living has been alive. They've used it on machines built around the turn of the last century. I don't know why Ram uses it but I suspect there is a reason other than ******* you off.
 

JRG18

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I took a grinder to my needle and flattened out the end. There's only about 1/8 movement in the fitting and I wanted to make sure all the grease was going in. Have to do it again when I change the oil in Feb. Once you've done it it is easy afterward.
 

JRG18

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Guess I forgot I had taken pics when I did it. For anyone that stumbles on this post in the future, hope they help.

I took a small but long flathead screwdriver to clean it off. There was quite a bit of dirt on it. The grease on the other side came out uniformly and made a nice ring.



 

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