Was reading the article on greasing the driveline splines at 30,000 Mi. on the posted maintenance schedule. I thought the splines were lubed from the ATF fluid!


Has anyone done this on their truck yet and if so how much of a job was it. When you performed this were the splines dry or still well greased from the factory?


Also what type of grease is used.


Thanks,


04 LBY CC SB

I did both driveshafts, transfer case end (front) and tranny end (rear). Had to cut the metal retainer strap around the boot at the transfer case end and used a nylon tywrap when finished. I did mine at 32000miles and both looked OK for grease. Have to use driveshaft grease, (real sticky) or you could end up with a bit of driveshaft slap. Took me about 45 minutes to do in my garage, (I'm not the quickest at this sort of stuff), or if you have a lift available even better. The toughest one to do was the transfer case end (front), shaft really stuck in there. Had to do a lot of yanking on that one. Oh yeah one more thing as a word of caution, make sure all wheels are blocked before attempting any of this. Good luck!!!

I have a two wheel drive, so do I need to pull the shaft out of the end of the trans to grease those splines? It is a split drive shaft, so do I just lube the rear drive shaft at the boot splines?





Thanks

There are no lube points on the driveshafts on these trucks.

There are no lube points on the driveshafts on these trucks.


Except the splines.

dslbrnr


Yes you are correct,pull the driveshaft out of the tranny and grease the splines. There are no zirks to lube on OEM u-joints.

TC DMAX thanks. I do have the split drive shafts, so do I have to grease both halfs the front at the trans and the rear part of the drive shaft under the rubber boot? Will I lose any ATF fluid out of the trans when I pull out the shaft?


Thanks again

dslbrnr


Just the front part at the tranny. I don't believe there is anything you can grease at the carrier bearing. Lift the rear of the truck a bit before pulling the driveshaft and BLOCK THE FRONT TIRES to prevent it from rolling. You may loose a couple of drops, very minimal. I marked the driveshaft (not sure if it matters or not) just to make sure it went back in the same position as I took it out.

Dry splines have been the cause of drive line clunk on a lot of outfits including mine. You will not loose any ATF. I backed my rear wheels up on my ramps. Be sure to clean the old lube out. I cleaned mine out with spray brake cleaner and re lubed with Mobil 1 synthetic from Autozone. Later! Frank

Ok I am clear on how to lube the front splines by the trans, but there is a slip joint on the rear half of the drive shaft behind the carrier bearing inside a rubber boot. Do I need to grease that slip joint to?


TC DMAX you said you had to remove the metal retainer strap on yours and replace it with a tie strap!

dslbrnr


Not sure about the slip joint, if you can lube it or not? The metal retainer strap I was refering to is only found on 4 wheel drive vehicles and is at the transfer case end. Seeing as you have 2 wheel drive you won't have any straps to cut. Frank made a good point, make sure you get all the old lube out before putting on the new stuff.

sounds like a good idea to go see the dealer on that one

Is this spline lube something new to GM trucks? I've have never heard of the splines needing lube at the transmission before.