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Posted By Discussion Topic: U joint grease -- page: 1 2     Dobie 01-31-2014 @ 1:58 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 33 Joined: Nov 2010 Has anyone used John Deere corn picker grease for their U joint? And how did it work? supereal 01-31-2014 @ 3:25 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 I use Mystik JT-6. It is a sticky waterproof grease that won't "hollow out" as the u-joint revolves. I became aware of this grease when we were having problems with boat trailer bearings, and use it as a general purpose lube at our shop. The fitting on the u-joint cover can be a problem to reach on some old Fords. If so, there is an extension available. supereal 01-31-2014 @ 3:26 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 I use Mystik JT-6. It is a sticky waterproof grease that won't "hollow out" as the u-joint revolves. I became aware of this grease when we were having problems with boat trailer bearings, and use it as a general purpose lube at our shop. The fitting on the u-joint cover can be a problem to reach on some old Fords. If so, there is an extension available. Stroker 01-31-2014 @ 4:28 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 I'd concur with Supereal on using a non-tunneling grease rather than John Deere corn head grease for the U-joint. The corn head grease is designed for slow-turning gearboxes, and as such, works very well in steering boxes, where it's "shear-thinning" properties allow it to lubricate the sliding worm gear/sector interface, while remaining semi-solid in areas that are not subject to significant relative movement. JD grease solves an issue with those who would like to not have their steering boxes drip on the garage floor and the highway and would prefer not to rebuild them with new seals. The product seems to provide adequate lubrication where it is needed in this application. U-joint lubrication is not quite the same challenge, and in fact the early Ford enclosed joint receives quite a bit of lubrication in the form of gear oil from the transmission. Corn head grease, in my humble opinion is a bit of a "crutch" that solves the symptom, but does not cure the problem, which is seal/gasket/and in some cases horn wire tube leakage. Old Henry 01-31-2014 @ 5:57 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 738 Joined: Apr 2010 I decided to use the corn head grease after seeing this video of how it thins so that it doesn't let the U-joint just carve out a cavern as it would with stiffer grease. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEwk_sYP6A8 So far, so good. David J 01-31-2014 @ 7:20 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 136 Joined: Jan 2014 In my 33-34 cars I just use SAE 140 in steering box , tranny , u-joint & rear end . Factory spec for 34 is 4oz and that is well below the level of the center hole in the inner bell . As pointed out already your tranny is going to slobber into the cavity anyway . To address your question cornhead grease has a dedicated-noisy following on another site . I do use it in my old JD tractors but not in my old fords . Your call of course . JM 01-31-2014 @ 9:05 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 822 Joined: Oct 2009 I did a complete rebuild, including changing ring & pinion gears to 3.78, on the rear of my '35 Fordor sedan last spring. When reinstalling the rear, I filled the U joint housing with JD Corn Head Grease. Since then I have driven this car 10,000+ miles with no U joint problems. I also filled the steering box with JDCHG at the same time. This grease is working well in both locations with no apparent leakage. I'm planning to use this same grease in the same locations on a '35 coupe as it goes back together. John 40 Coupe 02-02-2014 @ 8:14 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1648 Joined: Oct 2009 I use 0-0 grease. it is so thin, it comes in a squeeze bottle and will recombine and not "hollow" out. Install 4 1/2 Oz through the speedometer gear hole on the torque tube using a small thin tube to get it in the u-joint area. Then use a couple of squirts with a grease gun on the u-joint cover Zerk fitting, with regular chassis grease. Ford did recommend 140W gear lube for the truck u-joint but insisted to continue to use soda soap grease on the car u-joint. I do not recommend JD cornhead for the u-joint but JD does have a video you can view of their corn head grease in action and you can decide. supereal 02-02-2014 @ 1:30 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 As my friend Stroker says above, there is plenty of gear oil from the rear of the transmission to keep the grease emulsified. Soda soap grease is long obsolete, but was also specified as a wheel bearing grease. If you fill the u-joint housing with gear oil, be prepared to oil the floor of your garage. The reason there was a difference between car and truck specs is that the trucks mostly had open drive lines and u-joints. Light duty trucks were classified as "commercial cars", rather than "trucks". David J 02-02-2014 @ 4:45 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 136 Joined: Jan 2014 If you go the gear oil route remember factory spec is 4 oz [ 1934 ] service bulletins . The 4 oz level is well below the hole in the clams so if it is leaking all over the floor your bell and tranny mount gaskets are not doing the job . If you overfill it you will indeed have it leak all over the floor as the felt - cork or whatever you use is only a wiper . Pretty sure it is in a late 1932 service bulletin where the formula for " cylinder oil - soda soap grease " is listed . Pretty much oil and you will see the key part is the use of tallow as a thickener and that is the big difference between this and wheel bearing grease . Tallow melts at the touch and the stuff for wheel bearings is 350* . I would assume by the dedication of the cornhead grease followers it must work well also . Cornhead grease is actually " 0 " viscosity and the post above points out " 00 " viscosity as working good also . I use all of these types in my tractors and equipment but not in my Fords .

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