Grease Ram Front 4x4 Drive Shaft
I just finished greasing the front drive shaft on my 08 Ram. Probably have done this 10-12 times and it never gets any easier finding the pin hole and getting the needle fitting on your grease gun i...
Forum Discussion
Wow, there is no accounting for perspective on lubing the Ram front driveshaft :)
Looks like we're talking about two different trucks at the same time.
If you have a pre 2013 (3500), or pre 2014 (2500) Ram truck you do not have the axle disconnect feature---you cannot turn the front driveshaft by hand. That certainly makes greasing the front driveshaft on the older Rams a pain-in-the-butt. On these older Rams you gotta lift up the wheel(s) in order to rotate the front driveshaft. However, on the newer Rams with the axle disconnect, you simply turn the front driveshaft by hand to locate and position the grease port for greasing.
As far as grease needle access to the grease port on the newer Rams, last night I took and posted pictures of the grease port on our '16 Ram 3500 SRW and posted them to this thread. With a flashlight in one hand and my iphone in the other, it took me about 2 minutes to position the front driveshaft and take 4 or 5 pictures of the grease port. If I had had a grease gun (and Lincoln #5803 grease needle) with me at the time it would have only taken me a minute to grease the grease port while I was there. I might add my truck does have the optional transfer case skid plate. This plate in no way interferes with access to the grease port.
I would agree with the premise that lubricating the front driveshaft on the newer Rams is not a critical as it used to be on the older Rams. However, if you're one that typically follows the manufacturer's suggested maintenance intervals, then the front driveshaft should be greased every 7.5k miles (ref pg.318 of my '16 Ram 3500 maintenance chart). If you're one that does not typically follow the manufacturer's suggested maintenance intervals, then feel free to ignore this requirement.
Looks like we're talking about two different trucks at the same time.
If you have a pre 2013 (3500), or pre 2014 (2500) Ram truck you do not have the axle disconnect feature---you cannot turn the front driveshaft by hand. That certainly makes greasing the front driveshaft on the older Rams a pain-in-the-butt. On these older Rams you gotta lift up the wheel(s) in order to rotate the front driveshaft. However, on the newer Rams with the axle disconnect, you simply turn the front driveshaft by hand to locate and position the grease port for greasing.
As far as grease needle access to the grease port on the newer Rams, last night I took and posted pictures of the grease port on our '16 Ram 3500 SRW and posted them to this thread. With a flashlight in one hand and my iphone in the other, it took me about 2 minutes to position the front driveshaft and take 4 or 5 pictures of the grease port. If I had had a grease gun (and Lincoln #5803 grease needle) with me at the time it would have only taken me a minute to grease the grease port while I was there. I might add my truck does have the optional transfer case skid plate. This plate in no way interferes with access to the grease port.
I would agree with the premise that lubricating the front driveshaft on the newer Rams is not a critical as it used to be on the older Rams. However, if you're one that typically follows the manufacturer's suggested maintenance intervals, then the front driveshaft should be greased every 7.5k miles (ref pg.318 of my '16 Ram 3500 maintenance chart). If you're one that does not typically follow the manufacturer's suggested maintenance intervals, then feel free to ignore this requirement.
