Several Stupid Questions

[m-cman]

Am in process of swaping the stock diff with a Venture one. Have separated and removed the diff and the swingarm and am going to replace all bearings and seals. I was expecting some form of lubrication where the u-joint is and assumed the rubber plug on the top of the swingarm in front was a fill/inspection hole. However is was totally dry and it appears there is no lubrication for the u-joint. No grease fittings either. Is this correct? If so, how is the u-joint lubricated? And what is the rubber plug for?

Are there any tricks or potential pitfalls I need to know about to proceed? Was also planning to have the diff and swingarm powdercoated. Any problem doing that?

 

[maleko89]

Correct, ujoint is dry except you should grease the splines. Purpose of the hole as you said...inspection of the u-joint.

While you have the swing arm off, inspect the seals and bearings at the pivots.

Powder coating is fine. Just make sure to remove inner bearings and have the holes covered to protect outer races.

 

[m-cman]

Thanks for the info. How does the u-joint survive without lubrication?

 

[lankeeyankee]

Thanks for the info. How does the u-joint survive without lubrication?

Just as most cars that dont have a grease fitting on the u joints, they do have grease but they are also sealed. Just little needle rollers in there sitting in grease. If you think about, how much does a cup on a u joint actually rotate? Not very much so not much heat is generated which allows the grease to keeps its thickness.