Noticeable noise after greasing U joints

After greasing my U-joints a couple days ago, I began to notice a mild vibrating noise when I am coasting to a stop with my foot off the gas. It sounds almost like the vibrating noise off-road tires make while driving. Any thoughts? 71K on the truck and recently put 5100s all around< but like I said, I didnt notice any changes until I greased the u joints. Grease used was red-n-tacky.

 

Does it go away in 4hi? If so ECGS.

 

As long as the grease you used is Lithium based grease and NOT Moly.

 

I'm going to go with @dk_crew on this one, sounds like it may be your needle bearing. Is this the first time since you've owned the truck that you've greased your u-joints? Typically what I've seen when u-joints are going bad is a constant hum or droning sound. On the other hand, others have stated a similar vibration that you've described. Are you able to do a road test and put it in 4 Hi while driving? As long as you dont make any sharp turns on pavement, you should be fine to put a mile or two on pavement in 4 Hi. If the vibration goes away when you put it in 4 Hi then it's your needle bearing. Keep us posted.

-J

 

It is the first time I greased them since owning the truck. I'm almost positive I used grease but I'll find out. And I will perform the test today. Fuck this sucks.

 

did you lift the rear when you did the 5100s?

 

I did not lift the rear

 

So, I tested it in 4hi and the noise went away. I turned it back to 2hi and the noise went away all together. When I greased my ujoints I spun the front shaft freely to access the zerks. So I'm thinking the shafts were out of balance and that was causing the noise?

 

glad the issue went away. i'll let others give thoughts on the 'fix'. I would think the front shaft will spin freely unless in 4wd and I also don't think anything done would put it back in balance since you didn't remove the shafts.

 

I appreciate all the help. In all honesty I do not have a very strong understanding of vehicle mechanics, which is why I turn to you guys.

 

I would still say that your needle bearing might be about to give up the ghost. Start setting a little cash aside for ECGS needle bearing, you'll also need the special tool that you can purchase from ECGS or sometimes, locals in your area might be whoring around one that you can borrow. It's not too difficult to replace and there are plenty of videos on youtube that will at least show you what you'd be in for if you were to attempt it yourself.

-J