• Always clean the grease zerk with a paper towel or suitable clean rag prior to greasing, in order to remove any further contaminants from being pushed inside the grease path of the joint

• Ensure that the grease gun is locked on tight and is in a straight line to the zerk -- or as much as possible given the clearance that you have and the grease gun that you are using.  Rotate the driveshaft or move the truck a small distance if needed to gain the necessary clearance

• When greasing, ensure that you see grease being purged out of all 4 u-joint caps.  They are designed to let grease out and still keep a seal after, still resisting intrusion from water and other contaminants

• The seals have superior integrity for every day usage.  However, if you are pressure washing the underside of the truck, do not blast the joints with a high pressured stream of water.  If this occurs, they should be greased afterwards in order to purge them of any possible water intrusion

• Should one or more caps on the joint not purge grease, first wiggle the end of the driveshaft while applying grease pressure with the grease gun

• If wiggling the driveshaft end fails to work, pressure should be relieved by loosening the bearing cap bolts. 

• A damaged yoke can also cause extra pressure on the joint.  Make sure that the yoke measurement is in spec.  Sometimes a slight “ping” with a small hammer on the yoke itself will free the tight/pressured parts

• Any time a strap or bolt is loosened or removed, it must be replaced with new hardware and torqued to specification 

Please see the below video, illustrating the greasing process and grease path.  This video specifically calls out the 10 series u-joints, but the information applies to the greaseable versions of the SPL series as well:

Greasing Process and Grease Path Video

And an additional video on yoke/u-joint measurement:

Yoke/U-Joint Measurement Video 

Service Manuals and technical specifications for all series of Spicer universal joints can be found at www.spicerparts.com