Greasing rear drive shaft splines

[Donkey]

Hi folks,
I've been educated into to the existence of something called the Triumph Twitch and having searched the web site for how to approach greasing the splines, I am now looking at the job.

Initially I'm having difficulty removing the 4 bolts at the diff. output flange, so before I get brutal, can the splines be greased successfully by just sliding the gaitors to one side? they are in good nick so there is no need to replace them.

Your help is always appreciated.

Brian

[barkerwilliams]

Brian,

You have probably found this already but from what I recall of my car, trying to undo the "lowest" bolt seemed the intuitive thing to do, however a ring spanner had easier and better access when undoing the bolt in the horizontal position when the yoke opened up wider access.

I would strip and grease, but any grease better than none.

Alan

[steve.n]

Brian, I don't think it is possible unless they have been fitted with grease nipples. last time I did mine I managed to do it with out removing the exhaust, although it took a bit of fiddling. If you remove them try to clean out all the old grease and dirt before reassembling and greasing.
Steve

[dickr]

When you jack up the rear of the car under the diff, the wheels drop to their full extent and the shafts extend. I eased back the gaiters from the inner shaft halves and then partly packed them with CV joint grease. Refastened the gaiters tightly. When the car is lowered, the shafts contract back together on the splines and the gaiter in effect pumps the grease into the join. It worked fine for me. I should say, though, that I had the shafts apart last year when I re-shimmed the diff so I knew there was no old hard grease inside.
An alternative is a grease nipple installed in the inner halves in the thicker section close to the universal joints. I did this as well, but found that one of my shafts had no blanking plate at the inner end, so the grease just came out towards the U/J.
Yet another approach is to remove the wheel, brake shoes and the outer shaft, but it is more work IMHO.

Dick

[Donkey]

Cheers chaps,

I've tried Dick's methodforow and we'll see how that goes.

(When you jack up the rear of the car under the diff, the wheels drop to their full extent and the shafts extend. I eased back the gaiters from the inner shaft halves and then partly packed them with CV joint grease.)

As always, thanks for the replies.

Kind regards,

Brian

[Lingen]

If you do part the shafts to do the job properly don't be tempted to put too much grease inside the hollow ones. This can lead to the core plugs at the end being pushed out, and you will have to dismantle the u/js to get them back in again properly. I know!
Mike.

[Jonat127]

No need to undo the bolts on the diff.
Take the brake drum off then undo the six nuts that hold the outer end of the drive shaft to the suspension arm. You can access them through the hole in the flange that holds the wheel bolt studs. Once they are all off, loosen the gaiter from the outer half of the shaft and pull the outer part of shaft off. The whole thing comes out through the big hole in the suspension arm.
Grease your splines on both male and female sides then slide the shaft back in!
There is one big spline which has to line up with the big slot on the outer part otherwise they won’t go back together.
I would install new gaiters too whilst doing this job.
One other thing; whatever you do, do not take off the brake shoes and handbrake mechanism. It is an absolute pig to get it to go back on again.

[Donkey]

No need to undo the bolts on the diff.
Take the brake drum off then undo the six nuts that hold the outer end of the drive shaft to the suspension arm. You can access them through the hole in the flange that holds the wheel bolt studs. Once they are all off, loosen the gaiter from the outer half of the shaft and pull the outer part of shaft off. The whole thing comes out through the big hole in the suspension arm.
Grease your splines on both male and female sides then slide the shaft back in!
There is one big spline which has to line up with the big slot on the outer part otherwise they won’t go back together.
I would install new gaiters too whilst doing this job.
One other thing; whatever you do, do not take off the brake shoes and handbrake mechanism. It is an absolute pig to get it to go back on again.

Thanks, noted for next time.

Brian

[stag8manod]

Hi Brian, If you use the outer shaft method. Use new nyloc nuts on the hub retaining studs and only torque them up to the recommendation. Alternatively replace them with the stepped 3/8 UNC - 5/16 UNF studs available.
Cheers Ian A

[Donkey]

Hi Brian, If you use the outer shaft method. Use new nyloc nuts on the hub retaining studs and only torque them up to the recommendation. Alternatively replace them with the stepped 3/8 UNC - 5/16 UNF studs available.
Cheers Ian A

Saved, thanks for that, Ian

[MandM]

Just search grease nipples and you will see photos of what some and I have done.

[dickr]

just pulled the offside outer shaft to put on a new dust shield for the inner U/J. I found I had to remove only the lower long spring between the shoes to get the flange through. About 30 minutes with a bit of fresh grease while I was there.

Dick

[Donkey]

Thanks guys, all helpful stuff.

Regards,

Brian

[MandM]

Nipple position
P1070473.JPG