How often should I grease my slipyoke?

Since I got this truck, I was getting a clunk sometimes stopping and sometimes accelerating afterwards. I was thinking axle wrap until I accidentally overgreased my slipyoke and it stopped.

Now after a couple months, it's clunking again VERY VERY lightly and not very often. Could it be time to regrease it? I don't want to pack the thing full of grease and cause issues.

 

every 5,000 miles should be fine. Pump slowly though... the seals are nothing more than a thin plastic ring with a small hole for excess grease to escape (at least on the 2nd gens) and break easily if pumped too hard (don't ask.)

 

that's it

and while pumping the slip shaft full of grease might eliminate
the noise that you complain of... (temporarily)
the real fact is it's simply a quick fix (bandaide) for the real issue.

If you overfill the slip shaft...
You may blow the plug (seal) out...
especially if yer junk ever fully articulates.

I wouldn't recommend over filling that slip shaft with grease.

 

Every oil change.

 

Well, it's not a noise, that's the thing. I don't understand how Greasing it would "bandaid" it if it wasn't the problem? My driveshaft was BONE dry before I did it.

 

how does one go about greasing a slip yoke?

 

Thru the zerk fitting with a grease gun.

 

The slip shaft does exactly as it's namesake implies....
it moves in and out from each half during compression or articulation of the suspension.
It requires very little lubrication to allow for smooth movement.

The bandaide comment is simply because many folk overfill that shaft
in order to minimize/eliminate the thud, pop, clunk (whatever description fits your genre)

There is nothing wrong with the shaft, nor its splines...
The fault lay in weak/tired leaf springs that cause excessive flex (wrap)
contributing to the misalignment of the drive shaft when throttle and braking is applied.

I did not say the shaft needs no lubricant.
I said that it should not be filled excessively.

If your slip shaft was "bone dry"
then it's my guess you've neglected most everything else as well.
And those things will rear their ugly head later in their consumable life

good luck with it

 

^^

This. Along with all U-joints and the double cardan joint.

And clean the MAF sensor and throttle body. And run a bottle of fuel injector cleaner through a tank of gas. But I digress...

 

"Inverno4" put this pick up a few days ago. The top drawing really shows what is going on with the slip joint. If that little gray cavity labeled "grease" becomes full, the movement of the joint can pop out the plug. It happened to me when my truck was new. The thing is, to get grease from the zerk to the splines, it must first fill that cavity. I drive slow and avoid sudden suspension cycles for a few blocks after a lube. That seems to do the trick.

 

Good luck! I packed mine full of grease the other day on purpose. Jammed a bunch of it under the boot when it was drooped

 

Thanks guys. I don't know why the whole "Axle wrap causing the slipyoke to over articulate" thing never clicked with me.