Midnight Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 How often should the the universal joints at either end of the prop shaft be greased? I dont seem to be able to find any references to this in the Caterham manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 once a year is good enough or every major service fredid=blue> smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 Many of them are sealed, and the variety with the grease nipple only failed in my car when the grease nipple fell out..... Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM siteid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Septimus Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I have this paranoid relationship with mine which are sealed and have been for> 30 years. Apart from checking the seals and checking the joints for play all I can do is think about what would happen if the front one let go at any sort of speed - taking out the floor, tunnel and my left leg (and possibly her right leg)- and balancing the likelihood of this and the aggravation of replacing them on a pre-emptive basis with possibly dubious rebuild kits. Do they fail catastrophically or just get clunky - assuming normal driving and no wheelies, doughnuts etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 all the ones i have had to replace on cars have always gave the owner plenty of warning question.gif fredid=blue> smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 In my experience uj's give reasonable warning before going bang but I'm at a loss as to why they dont seem to be availabe with grease nipples, mine has these fitted and I top them up every six months or so, its an easy job to do and takes the worry out of failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 My De Dion was built by the factory in 1997. I wonder which type I may have. I did not know any maintenance was necessary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 They do rarely fail catastrophically. I have only ever heard of it happening once, and not on a seven. I have been in a car where one was getting dodgy when my dad had his garage, and the vibration was dreadful. Later sevens have the tunnel hoops to prevent injury in the event of failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Septimus Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 Yes, mine was built when men were men and Chapman was mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I drove 200 miles on mine at up to 70mph when it started grumbling. We were down to 30mph by the time we got close to home! Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM siteid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I drove 200 miles on mine at up to 70mph when it started grumbling. We were down to 30mph by the time we got close to home! Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM siteid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 The hole for the grease nipple does weaken the spider slightly. Most of the high strength Dana units have had the grease nipples removed to increase strength. The grease life on a DeDion car should be very good because there is a limited amount of deflection as the prop alignment is quite good. A live axle car probably needs a little more maintenance but should last for years even without new grease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 it is only when the rubber seals go hard and split with age. on the same lines as ball joints track rod ends ect then the centrifugal force displaces the grease a bit like when you turn on a food mixer without the lid on then dirt salt water ect gets in and the damage starts to ware the small roller bearings. fredid=blue> smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I tried to grease the UJs this weekend. Had to buy a flexible hose for the grease gun as I couldnt get the gun to it otherwise, even with the wxle stands as high as they'll go. Does the part of the grease gun that pushes onto the nipple tend to loosen with age, as it was really hard to get it off the one at the rear of the car?, I also only realised when I rotated the prop that I had been merrily pumping grease in as it came out of the UJ on the other side, assuming this is no problem so just wiped it off. On the front nipple I couldnt physicaly get the grease gun to push on, just wasnt having it, do grease nipples come in different sizes? It's a 2007 car if it makes any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Machine Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 First time I tried doing this job I had similar problems due to the fact I didn’t appreciate how the nipple and gun clip together. You tend to need a firm single direction movement to engage and disengage. The nipple is obviously a small slightly bulbous shape which engages in the sprung cross cut fitting in the end of the gun. Watch out for too much twisting as you can snap the nipple which is not to difficult to replace if you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I started reading this thread and was surprised to be seeing posts from Fat Arnie again, then realised it was ten years old! 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 you should be able to adjust the grease gun nozzle by turning the end so that it tightens/loosens to fit different nipples. Failing that you used to be able to get a needle nozzle that pushes into the nipple hole although I haven't seen one of these for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnty Lyons Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 You need to be careful I know a se7en owner who thought the nipples where caps that you screwed out before applying the gun to the resultant hole. I jest you not He's also brilliant at wiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Yeah, I've been gone for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mirylees Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I have a front U/J fail on a series 4 (Lotus) 7. Car was only a couple of years old and always serviced. Driving back from Switzerland in 1971 got close to home whilst driving down the M4 at around 90mph, when there was a major vibration, terrific bang and flames shot across my lap from the centre tunnel. Stopped on the central reservation and watched the car disappear in flames and smoke. Lotus said it had not happened to other cars. Fire brigade reckoned I was lucky as - if I'd been going more slowly - they thought that the car would have 'pole-vaulted'. As it was, the propshaft disintegrated and just flailed around... ...Look after those U/J's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10uptobase Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 just doing the annual service on my 2008 roadsport and yet again, have only been able to grease the front uj. where can i get a (cheap!) grease gun that is flexible enough to get to the shrouded rear nipple??? ta! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 You just need a flexible hose for the gun you have ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Having struggled to do mine up on axle stands, I now take the easy option & the very helpful guys at H Engineering in Tunbridge Wells fully grease both ends when the 7 is in for it's MOT. I give the mechanic a drink & this time he only charged me £35 for the test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10uptobase Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 trying machine mart. they have a flexible friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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