MTFCA Forum

...to fill the space around the U-joint? Curious, I didn't put in any grease when I assembled the thing, just to see how many cups it would take.

The answer is 23, at least in this case. After the car has run a few miles the grease may be spread around to make more space.

The best idea I've seen for these type grease cups is to install a modern Zerk fitting inside the cup. It sure does make greasing the T a simple task. It's important to grease that U joint often..

Loading 23 cups of grease must have felt like groundhog day!

I love that experiment. I went through the same process 2 weeks ago, the following week I added a zerk.

Loading 23 cups of grease must have felt like groundhog day!

Days. Arthur Itis suggested that it would be done best only five at a time.

I'm happy you shared that. It's much easier to pack the cavity before you slide the u-joint into the engine. Then, all you need is to fill the grease cup a few times. If you install a zerk, then how are you going to keep the grease cup from coming off? It's better to not use a zerk.

You can buy them already made too, in steel or brass, for U-joint, steering, rear axle....

"If you install a zerk, then how are you going to keep the grease cup from coming off? It's better to not use a zerk." Most of my grease cups for that size are not spring loaded if you are talking about the cap. If the cap unscrews from the base, you have more problems to deal with then just a lost cap. And even if you lost the cap it would be no big deal, no different then just installing a Zerk without the cup, both are pipe thread. I install mine dry and fill after, enough to deal with without the mess of grease everywhere. I find about 1/2+ tube of grease fills it from dry, but I am not going to go out a measure how many caps full that is!
Simple matter to unscrew the cup install a Zerk fill the housing then reinstall the cup for refilling later if you so wish.

As the regulars on this forum know, I use original parts. The cap has a three or four sided stud which is welded to the cap. There is a spring affair that fits into the base, and when the two are engaged, it prevents the cap from loosening. Of course, if you have a zerk down there, it can't work.

I used one with a zerk when I assembled my drivetrain for the first time. It took 3/4 of a tube a grease to fill it from empty.

Grease is cheap,but that much seem's if only to me excessive? Bud.

Bud

Can’t have too much grease in the u-joint ball, Ford used the largest dope cup there. Takes about a full cup of grease to pack.

Have always packed it full on install of the engine, filling the joint and space in the torque tube ball, allows for the square end of the u-joint to stand up and not wobble in slack as you couple. Keep that u-joint packed each 500 miles.

A cup of grease is a lot of grease, but 23? Give me a break!

A cup of grease is a lot of grease, but 23? Give me a break!

No, no, no. Not eight ounce measuring cups. We're not baking a cake here. This is about Model T GREASE cups.
And yes, I really did fill it and screw it on 23 times before it filled the cavity enough for grease to start oozing out around the cap. (See the first picture I posted above.) I assure you I'm not running for office, so I'm not lying.

Like Dan said...if you have the engine out or rear end out just make sure and the ball full. And yep it does make it very easy to keep the universal in place for an easy coupling. Just did that last week. Very quick and easy hookup. Then every 500 miles I give the Zerk fitting cup 20-25 pumps and its good to go. Plus 4-6 on the driveshaft bushing. Never had any trouble with the caps staying on the cups either!

Filling the ball full of grease and continually adding more grease is like taking a whole bottle of aspirin. More is not better...

Quite a fitting analogy there, Adam !

How is having the ball full then adding some after it squeezes out under normal operation a bad thing? I would think having it mostly full would be an advantage for a healthy u-joint, and for preventing engine oil from going down the torque tube and into the diff. Me confused.

Some grease squeezes forward into the transmission and engine. Modern grease does not mix readily with engine oil. Because the oil system is not pressurized, the grease has the ability to foul oil grooves and oil holes in the engine and transmission preventing proper lubrication. Grease also EASILY will plug up oil lines, even the accessory ones. It’s really important to keep any traces of grease out of non-pressurized engines.

Too bad that Steve didn't mention grease cups in the first place!

Huh?

If it's any small consideration, I got it right away Steve. I imagine some of us have been dealing with grease cups for all sorts of ancient machines for quite awhile. Me since I was a boy and never lost one yet but I am only 55.
Shoot, 5 cups at a time is a stretch!
I've lipped off about this before but I just took the entire, clean and correct cup assembly off the empty U-joint cover on the 18 and held the grease gun against the hole for the cup and started pumping. You prob'ly remember this, it took me a few tries to get it done but it was full. And a few more (grease) cups worth. Ouch. Then I sat down again and refreshed my self with a cold drink.

OK. I will ask the question. Adam replied that some grease squeezes forward into the transmission and engine and may plug oil lines and grooves. I packed my u-joint with the fiberous yellow truck wheel bearing grease in hopes that it would stay put and not run out like regular grease. I also considered using the red grease for heavy equipment that stays put. Do these types of greases pose more of a danger of plugging the oil lines? Am I asking for trouble? What is the best type of grease to use in this location?

Fire at will, gentlemen, Bill

I think most old time grease/dope cups often used what was called [soft oil].I have doubts about filling the engine with grease and if said grease is not soft or a semi fluid,how will it get into the inner parts of the U joint? Grease and oil are cheap but is there a need to under coat your car and leave a trail??Bud.

What kind of grease is recommanded?

Duey_C wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 14, 2019 10:37 pm

If it's any small consideration, I got it right away Steve.

Yo tambien.

It never even crossed my mind that this might be referencing baking (Imperial) measurements.

Great info here. I always like reading what you write Mr. Jelf. I learn something every time. This was a good experiment. I bet there are many who just think that a few turns is ok on the cup.

Sorry Steve, drifting. Off the deep end but goll (Gol Ducat) I laughed! Intended or no, you guys made my good day great! Again!
Don, doggone it, you were speaking the Queen's Spanish and all I heard was French! I saw "Combien du temps" (combien du tom) in my head "How much time?" Hah! still relevant!
I had to look "Yo tambien" up! Me too.
You have a twisted sense of humor that suits and yet out performs my own! IMPERIAL MEASUREMENTS... Still laughing inside!
All I hear in my head NOW is my brain feeding me an English accent voice-over of the whole darned thing...
Nyes, we see that the hole bloody mess has to do with how many copps we ectually put into that bloody swivel-joint mmm?......

Duane....

I was raised in a farming community just north of Brownsville, TX and Spanish was practically my first language.

...Spanish was practically my first language.

Here we go again, with a comment reminding me of something else. My late compañero de trabjo Carlos Sotelo was from Ojinaga, Chihuahua. I once asked him, "Why Kansas?" He said that for the first two years after he came to the US he lived in Texas, and realized he wasn't learning English. So he moved to where he would have to.

I got it pretty close Steve. A traveling buddy I thought.
Up here we know a little Norwegian, a bishen German and I obviously gravitate to French. Mostly swear words.
Interesting!

I've been having a lot of work done on my property lately and in this area, most of the laborers who are employed by contractors are hispanic.

With the severe heat the way it is around here in August, I've taken cold drinks out to the workmen and almost always take some time to chat with them (in Spanish) while they cool down. My kids are awestruck by my ability to not only converse with these guys, but to do so seemingly without an accent.

I think their amazement is due, in part, to the fact that I never speak Spanish at any other time.

I was thinking about it the other day. My dad farmed and raised cattle and so did his father. They dabbled in other things, but they were farmers above all else. As far back as we've been able to research, all the Allen men have farmed and raised cattle. This probably stretches back thousands of years. I broke the chain and now live near a city and wear a lab coat at work. My dad sold everything farm related and moved away from south Texas before my kids were born so they've never experienced something that their ancestors did since practically the beginning of time.

Talk about something that will stop and make you think for a minute.

Sorry about the thread drift Steve. I'll go squirt some more grease into that u-joint zerk this afternoon to get things back on track.

I can verify Adam's comment about some of the grease working its way into the transmission. I pumped away at my zerk fitting, never seeing any grease come out of the U-joint cover. Next time I opened the transmission cover plate I found what I first thought was a dead mouse in the screen. It was a big glob of grease partially dissolved by the engine oil into a very mouse-like shape. It even had a tail. Should have taken a picture, but my hands weren't very clean.

It never occurred to me to check the oil lines, but I will do that now.