Grease for driveshaft inner tripod joint ?!

[DamirGTI 323]

Need to do some CV boots , and while browsing the web in search for some grease for the job there seems to be much to read trough and not so much to understand what is good or bad ! as there's a lot of different opinions which grease is suitable , which is must and so on . 

 

The outer CV "Rzeppa" joint is clear and understandable without the doubt - good quality moly grease here .

 

The inner tripod joint , here however some say also moly grease while other say high temp. lithium complex or polyurea grease .. even the GKN says that the moly grease must not be used on inner tripod joints , something about the solid moly additive which apparently can "damage the bearing needles in the tripod joint" ..

 

Also , from GKN there's special lithium based brownish grease in tube specifically for inner tripod joint .. but i wonder why do they then supply the same black moly CV grease sachets with the GKN boot kits for both the outer and inner joints ? as well as the 99% of the other aftermarket boot kits .

 

 

What grease does everybody use for inner tripod joint ?

 

 

I've used in the past and present both the moly and lithium complex , and 50-50% mix of graphite grease and gear oil .

Nowadays , seems like preferred is high temp. lithium complex or polyurea grease ..

 

D

 

 

[Thijs_Rallye 86 4 Cars]

I've always used the black MoS2 grease. Never had issues.

[welshpug 1,621]

cv grease, whatever comes with the cv boot!

[DamirGTI 323]

Pretty much the same then , me too MoS2 grease on both sides .. but myself i tend to use some branded stuff from the cartridge , kinda suspicious about the quality of the grease supplied with the boot kits especially cheaper aftermarket ones .

 

But thinking about it , it does make sense there to be different types of grease for outer/inner joint as they're different construction .. on Japanese cars especially i tend to find different grease in the inner tripod joint , coffee or milky colour and more liquid like (Lithium , NLGI 1 grade for sure) .

 

D

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

I always thought it needed to be high velocity grease so it didn't get thrown to outside of boot, if that makes sense?

[welshpug 1,621]

youndont put so much in that it can get thrown around (unless theres a hole of course, where it will go EVERYWHERE)

 

cv grease does what is says on the tin

[DamirGTI 323]

From what i read , inner tripod joint needs more temp. resistant grease as it heats up more than the outer joint .. also "softer" grease for the inner joint NLGI 0 or NLGi 1 , high temp. Lithium complex (with HP additives) or synthetic polyurea .

 

I found an old stock OE boot set for the inner and outer joints , and sure for inner there's sachet of yellow Lithium NLGI 1 grease and for the outer black Moly CV grease NLGI 2 .

 

 

Does it matter on a old +30 years old shafts i really don't know if it'll make any difference ... but last time i switched back to lithium for the tripods and moly for the outer rzeppa joints ... as aftermarket shafts are usually crap , best to preserve the original shafts as long as possible at least the grease and boots don't cost much .

 

D

 

 

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

good info, guys, thanks. I don't mind to buy the right grease. Had a bit of a driveshaft disaster on near side of car, thankfully not run like this except from loading onto trailer.

We were rotating both shafts while checking car over and noticed nearside driveshaft had tight/high spot on it that was so bad it was causing movement to the gearbox.

Removed shaft and found one bearing or shell (not sure what they are called) had come off the tripod and was lodged fast in the casting.

 

This was an old pair of 1.9 shafts we had laying around and put on the car when we changed from 1.6 running gear to 1.9 so not sure if the joint was already in this state

or if it's happened while it's been on the car (car hasn't been run yet apart from being moved in workshop and on and off trailer)

 

Car is running 309 wishbones (confirmed) with PTS Bilsteins and Rose jointed top mounts - ride height increased though as opposed to lowering for gravel.

We were told or assumed the shafts were 309 too but comparing the NS on the bench with a 1.9 one, they're identical. No oil leaks though from diff seals

but then I suppose if the shaft is too short it would pull itself apart from the joint rather than the casting coming out of the diff?