WD-40 is not a lubricant?

[adic27]

I was reading up on a few reddit posts about how WD-40 being a lubricant is misleading or not really true. I'm sure you can use it to lubricate some things but read that it should be followed up with some oil otherwise it anything that can rust will, eventually?

I just cleaned where my last driveshaft piece connects to the pumpkin and was wondering, does this part get greased by the grease that's inside the u joint or should I rub grease on it in certain places before connecting it.

I sprayed brake cleaner on it not realizing the rubber piece (see image). I sprayed WD-40 on the whole area after blowing it dry with compressed air. Should I put oil on the rubber? If so, can it be any oil? I have a gallon of oil leftover from when I changed the oil.

Thanks

 

[rensch26]

This is the differential yoke, correct? Not the yoke on the driveshaft, right? Either way, the yoke does not need grease. It clamps down on your u-joint, your u-joint is what needs greased. As for the rubber, this looks like some sort of lock nut. I've personally never seen that on a differential yoke. Usually the nut gets crimped or deformed in some way to prevent it from coming loose. But no, that rubber or plastic in that lock nut does not need oil either.

 

[sportyrick]

The "rubber" is nylon which is used to keep the nut from turning and getting loose, no need to worry about that. The saddle for the u joints don't need any lubrication but you could put light grease on them to keep them from rusting.

 

[adic27]

Thanks to both of you!

 

[adic27]

Another question..

I was cleaning out the female part where the spline goes and noticed what looked like dirt/oil buildup. As I started poking at it with a pick and trying to scrape it with a flathead I realized I was something else. Seems like the same material used for wine bottle corks. In between seems like the same. Did I screw something up by gouging at this? Hope not. Attached image

 

[magnakansas]

quit pickin at it

yea, it is cork, just like in a wine bottle -- cork is tree bark. it is a seal to keep grease in the splined area. clean off the male side... light oil, put it together correctly, then when you have this all back together, grease the splined slip joint.

nice work cleaning it up.

william

 

[dognamedboo]

Yeah WD was the 40th attempt at making a Water Displacement formula. It's really thin as an oil and disappears pretty quick, at least that has been my experience.

 

[cadillackid]

I use WD as a cleaner more than anything.. (and it works as a mild starting fluid for glow-plug equipped diesels.. it goes away pretty quick and in my experience leaves a residue that attracts dirt and makes things worse..



I put a little white lithium grease on the yoke where the U-joints go in. . it makes them easier to take apart, some people use a ltitle anti seize in those saddles..



definitely dont iun-cork the wine bottle!! like william says you want it in there to hold the grease..



get you a grease gun.. (im a tool geek so I have a dewalt cordless one).. I grease my chassis a couple times a year on average.. I know there are supposed to be many different greases for different parts of the chassis, however ive had good luck greasing the whole suspension with lucas Red N tacky. grease..



I putthe fitting on and inject grease till I start seeing CLEAN grease pop out of the seal on the fitting.. thus I know ive ejected the dirt.



you will find grease fittings all over your bus.. (look for a zerk anywhere 2 parts are meant to move against each other) tie-rod ends, drag link, king-pins top and bottom, each slip joint for the driveshaft, U-joints, Air brake auto slacks, brake S-cam shafts, sometiomes even at the spring shackles.



if the thing hasnt been greased in a while the Zerks may be completely covered in dirt that you need to chip away to see them. Keeping your Chassis greased is one of the easiest things you can do to extend the life of the expensive suspension components under your bus. a powered grease gun(air or cordless) makes it a fairly quick and easy job to do it.



its kind of fun too i get to feel all butch under my Diesel getting all greasy!!


-Christopher

 

[adic27]

I use WD as a cleaner more than anything.. (and it works as a mild starting fluid for glow-plug equipped diesels.. it goes away pretty quick and in my experience leaves a residue that attracts dirt and makes things worse..



I put a little white lithium grease on the yoke where the U-joints go in. . it makes them easier to take apart, some people use a ltitle anti seize in those saddles..



definitely dont iun-cork the wine bottle!! like william says you want it in there to hold the grease..



get you a grease gun.. (im a tool geek so I have a dewalt cordless one).. I grease my chassis a couple times a year on average.. I know there are supposed to be many different greases for different parts of the chassis, however ive had good luck greasing the whole suspension with lucas Red N tacky. grease..



I putthe fitting on and inject grease till I start seeing CLEAN grease pop out of the seal on the fitting.. thus I know ive ejected the dirt.



you will find grease fittings all over your bus.. (look for a zerk anywhere 2 parts are meant to move against each other) tie-rod ends, drag link, king-pins top and bottom, each slip joint for the driveshaft, U-joints, Air brake auto slacks, brake S-cam shafts, sometiomes even at the spring shackles.



if the thing hasnt been greased in a while the Zerks may be completely covered in dirt that you need to chip away to see them. Keeping your Chassis greased is one of the easiest things you can do to extend the life of the expensive suspension components under your bus. a powered grease gun(air or cordless) makes it a fairly quick and easy job to do it.



its kind of fun too i get to feel all butch under my Diesel getting all greasy!!


-Christopher

I use WD as a cleaner more than anything.. (and it works as a mild starting fluid for glow-plug equipped diesels.. it goes away pretty quick and in my experience leaves a residue that attracts dirt and makes things worse..



I put a little white lithium grease on the yoke where the U-joints go in. . it makes them easier to take apart, some people use a ltitle anti seize in those saddles..



definitely dont iun-cork the wine bottle!! like william says you want it in there to hold the grease..



get you a grease gun.. (im a tool geek so I have a dewalt cordless one).. I grease my chassis a couple times a year on average.. I know there are supposed to be many different greases for different parts of the chassis, however ive had good luck greasing the whole suspension with lucas Red N tacky. grease..



I putthe fitting on and inject grease till I start seeing CLEAN grease pop out of the seal on the fitting.. thus I know ive ejected the dirt.



you will find grease fittings all over your bus.. (look for a zerk anywhere 2 parts are meant to move against each other) tie-rod ends, drag link, king-pins top and bottom, each slip joint for the driveshaft, U-joints, Air brake auto slacks, brake S-cam shafts, sometiomes even at the spring shackles.



if the thing hasnt been greased in a while the Zerks may be completely covered in dirt that you need to chip away to see them. Keeping your Chassis greased is one of the easiest things you can do to extend the life of the expensive suspension components under your bus. a powered grease gun(air or cordless) makes it a fairly quick and easy job to do it.



its kind of fun too i get to feel all butch under my Diesel getting all greasy!!


-Christopher

Thanks for the tips!

I have an air crease gun I used on the new U-Joint. Works pretty good. When the grease oozes out do you wipe the excess/old grease or leave it? If I don't have to, I don't wanna waste the time. Just squeeze and breeze through it

On another note, after putting the driveshaft back in place I noticed the spline was exposed about an inch and a half. Is this normal? I've never bothered with it before and didn't see it before it was removed so I wouldn't know. (Image attached)

I have to take it back off because I was looking at the wrong thing when lining up the ears/where clips are so maybe that has something to do with it, that's if it isn't supposed to be exposed like it is. Maybe it's intentional to provide slack for easy removal?

Also, are these black patch pieces just weights for balancing purposes? At first I thought they were to help phase/line the shaft up but upon checking, they seem kinda all over the place. Just curious

Thanks

 

[cadillackid]

Yep those are weights. And the splines it is normal as the bus bounces up and down in its suspension , the driveshaft slides in and out of those splines.

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

the gap on the spline is normal.
the extra grease squished out is just going to get flung off wherever.
the weights are from balancing the shafts and thats why marking the shafts before removal is important.
but in a medium duty chassis with a carrier bearing it might not really be felt if off a little?
it might be seen over time in the bearing/ u joint or tail shaft seal but those are wear items anyway and if everything is brand new and any specific one wears out before its expected life the its probably the shaft out of phase or lost a balance weight

 

[cadillackid]

the gap on the spline is normal.
the extra grease squished out is just going to get flung off wherever.
the weights are from balancing the shafts and thats why marking the shafts before removal is important.
but in a medium duty chassis with a carrier bearing it might not really be felt if off a little?
it might be seen over time in the bearing/ u joint or tail shaft seal but those are wear items anyway and if everything is brand new and any specific one wears out before its expected life the its probably the shaft out of phase or lost a balance weight

I definitely felt my out of balance shaft on the dev Bus.. it would give me a good vibration and resonance sound even.. once balanced and phased properly.. nada.. I dont even know its there except my bus still moves when i step on the pedal

 

[adic27]

I definitely felt my out of balance shaft on the dev Bus.. it would give me a good vibration and resonance sound even.. once balanced and phased properly.. nada.. I dont even know its there except my bus still moves when i step on the pedal

How fast do you have to be going to get the symptoms (vibration in this case) to start. Can't be idle? I was looking at mine after re-installing and I'm not sure if I put it back correctly since I was able to rotate the whole thing while inspecting the other u-joints. Wish the splines were designed to only go on one way by a single tooth on it being slightly smaller or larger.

Something tells me even if I have to rotate it 180° I still might have to rotate it one or more times at 90°. I've been watching vid after vid trying to understand what might be really simple bit like always, I might be overthinking and overwhelming myself. Gonna take it for a drive early in the morning when there is little to no traffic.

 

[cadillackid]

I didnt feel mine till I had a driveshaft RPM of about 2000 or so on up.. below that i didnt notice it..


at first I thought I had a U-joint going out.. however U-joints most often give Vibration worse at Low RPM.. and most often give vibration when under heavy acceleration..



so I figured it was a balnce issue when I would go down hill I shifted to neutral and let the engine idle down.. and the vibe kept going as long as my speed stayed up..



so when the AT545 Grenaded I rectified the driveshaft situation at the same time I change the transmission

 

[adic27]

Wow. Not looking forward to that!

 

[cadillackid]

not looking forward to what?


I dont believe my driveshaft vibe grenaded the At545. . I never was able to get the 545 apart to tell exactly what happened to it.. probably stripped the shell or snapped a shaft in the trans..

 

[adic27]

not looking forward to what?


I dont believe my driveshaft vibe grenaded the At545. . I never was able to get the 545 apart to tell exactly what happened to it.. probably stripped the shell or snapped a shaft in the trans..

Oh, ok. I thought the driveshaft situation caused problems with the transmission. I'm not looking forward to trans issues, I meant. Although, I have eventually noticed something strange where the trans takes a while to shift to second and then kinda jerks in to second gear. Might be slippage, but that's a story for another thread

 

[cadillackid]

Double post. Deleted

 

[cadillackid]

It’s normal to feel a back n forth motion in the vehicle during a 1-2 shift with the AT500 series and the MT643, id have to look again but I believe there’s an off going clutch as well as an Oncoming clutch, allison is a little lazy purposely on how quick the oncoming clutch applies to prevent a bind. If I remember I’ll take a video of the 540 in my superior which you can seriously hear the shift and get an idea of what I’m talking about

 

[Mountain Gnome]

FWIW
My (dieing) AT545 has always revved high in first, but shifting between all gears has always been very smooth. Still is smooth, even as it dies, but it is slipping, so a hard shift may be out for good!



Except when I cruise at 22mph exactly, with very little or no throttle on flat ground, especially when bumpy. It seems that at that speed and throttle, the upshift from 2>3 is at 22.25mph, and the downshift from 3>2 is at 22mph. The slight variation in speed at the tranny driveshaft output causes it to shift back and forth hard and fast - bang - bang -bang (maybe even more times). This variation occurs as my very bouncy, short wheelbase bus body rotates around the rear axle as it teater-totters down the road.
**********************

"Lube" an old pair of rusty pliers that don't open/close with good ol' WD-40, and ..... they kinda work, open 1/2 or 3/4 of the way ..... for a day or two .....


>Lube< an old pair of rusty pliers that don't open/close with Dr. Bronners liquid soap (I use peppermint because (a) it smells good (b) it cleans grease off my hands better than any other product than I've ever used and I've used a lot, from commercial industrial "professional mechanic" cleaners to other flavors of Dr. Bronners, so I have it on hand (no pun intended). Also note that Marvel Mystery Oil smells like mint (and has been around for like 100 years), and is said to clean your motor....). Your pliers will eject a bunch of rusty gook out of the joint, and it will move freely 100%, and stay that way.


I lubed all the cabinet and door hinges with "household weight" oil when I was a kid. Every 6 months, or they squeeked. Then I tried once with Dr. Bronners, when I started to become (environmentally) conscious. Never had to again, 30 years later, they still don't squeek.