Ford E450 - Inspect / Lubricate U Joints?

[paullac]

I have a Class C on a Ford E450. I bought it new in late summer 2012. It has about 12 k miles on it. All the Ford owners manual really calls for at this age / mileage is oil changes. i've had them done every spring at the Ford dealer (so they run it through a multipoint inspection too). I noticed the owners manual also says to inspect / lubricate the U joints. I brought it up to the dealer last time & I didn't fully get his answer but it sounds like it wasn't recommended (I figure if it was needed they would have gladly charged me for it). Does anyone know more about this - does this need to be done or not? Thanks!

[Toot_Mc]

U joints are sealed in the later ford chassis. so put the old dirty grease gun away and get that beast on the road.....!!!!!! enjoy......!!!!!!! Honk when you pass....!!!!!!

[j-d]

Now that I see it's a '13 coach on a '12 chassis, not surprised at all that the only fittings are on the steering linkage. Ford went through a period where they eliminated those, and apparently it didn't work out well, since they're back.

Thanks for the update. Drive it and worry not.

[paullac]

OP here with an update -

I had the rig at the Ford dealer yesterday for the oil change. The service writer said they're supposed to inspect / lubricate but put a reminder note on the repair order to be safe. He acknowledged that the engineers have gone lifetime sealed so it depends on the specific vehicle. It didn't seem like he was a fan of the engineers for doing this. In any event, when I cashed out, the service writer said this to me: "The only grease fittings were on the tie rod ends, not driveline".

This was for an E450 with a build date of 2/15/2012.

In full disclosure, I have zero understanding of anything mechanical, so a lot of the responses to my original post & even what the service writer said is over my head.

But I wanted to share this back with the group as an FYI in case it helps anyone else.

[j-d]

If it's E-Series 1992 and newer, it has ball joints not king pins. The latest ones don't even have holes for grease fittings in the ball joints. I installed grease fittings ("zerk's") in the front end on our 2002 E450. Chose angled ones that'd let me get the grease gun onto them easily.

I think it's good to grease the front end parts IF IF IF we don't blow the seals out with excess grease/grease pressure. Only grease till the sealing boot expands a little.

[Dusty_R]

What about the tie rods and king pins ? Our E-350 '03 has plugs in them.

Dusty

[Cobra21]

I have found the factory U-joints usually don't have grease fittings, but the replacement ones do. I wouldn't worry about them as they normally last around a 100,000 miles or more.
Brian

[tatest]

Whether or not your U-joints have grease fittings will depend on what the RV manufacturer (or his chassis supplier) did when a new driveshaft was built up for the chassis stretch. All most all C motorhomes on E-450 get a chassis stretch because it comes OEM in only two wheelbase lengths, the longest of which is too short for most motorhomes over 24 feet long.

[j-d]

I do ours, but it's an older chassis. I mention older because Ford has gone "lifetime sealed" on many parts that used to have either grease fittings or plugs you could install fittings into. For example, our 2002 axle had plugs in the ball joints and the 2012 axle doesn't even have holes for plugs or fittings there.

If it HAS fittings, they'll be tucked into the center of one intersection of the "cross" that the four caps (which go into the driveshaft yokes). Hopefully they line up so one positioning of the driveshaft lets you access all joints at once.

Should be lubed with a hand-operated grease gun and the seal of each cap watched to look for grease just seeping out of all four.

If it doesn't have fittings, I wouldn't hire anybody to dismantle the joints, pack the caps with grease then reassemble.

[midnightsadie]

for a hole lot of years U joints have been sealed, there is no grease fitting like in the 50,s , on big rigs things might be different.

[Kit_Carson]

I will be interested in the answers to this question myself.