Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Greasing the propshaft

Has anyone ever greased the propshaft joint at the bevel box? Does this require a special grease gun nipple attachment, what grease to use, and how much grease to inject?

Thanks.

It should be a regular nipple so normal grease gun head should push on and lock. Only minimal amount not grease though as you may blow the seals otherwise - just one squeeze on my Wanner.

Not sure about M3W but on the four wheelers there are three nipples, located on UJ at each end of propshaft and a sliding joint just behind forward UJ. I think this necessary sliding joint is integral to front UJ on M3W and locates on gearbox output shaft splines forward of the UJ. Worth checking to see if it has a dedicated lube point.

Be aware that there is the same standard nipple - for a standard grease pump - at the gear box side.
You have to grease that one too ( f.i. every year ).
When you are unlucky to have an NVH BB support kit it is more difficult to reach it from the under side of the vehicle.

Has anyone actually had a propshaft UJ fail? I suspect there are many 3 Wheelers driving around having covered tens of thousands of miles without the joints ever being greased.

Thanks everyone. Does anyone know the specified grease for these joints?

Castrol LM or similar will do you or whatever you currently use for wheel bearings, I've used it for 20 years now.

Thanks Rich.

I think there must be a lot of propshafts that don't get greased, particularly those with the NVH kit fitted as access to the grease nipples is worse and requires the tunnel panel removal. With the shaft being almost straight and no movement of either end the bearings don't move much, brinelling being more of a problem I expect? I have not heard on any UJ bearing failure, there must have been some as just about everything else has failed on the M3W, apart from the Mazda gearbox 😁.

UJ's were a regular fail on "old cars" back in the day and the noise is unmistakeable. Like a high frequency pneumatic drill, a sort of dull grinding noise. Often UJ's live exposed to the road, and some I changed had dried out completely, the rollers were totally rusted and ground away.

These days, I think technology has improved. The grease which is visible in Morgan UJ's is a sort of luminous green. Certainly on the Trads, the front UJ is so enclosed that it's tough to access. The rear, although "exposed" is well covered by the rear axle cavity, and stays clean anyway.

There are two things to consider. Too much grease will lift the rubber seals. And it will centrifuge around the transmission tunnel creating a greasy mess. So like most things Morgan. Judgement call. There's no right answer. The UJ's need grease, but they don't need much. Similarly with the sliding yoke. It doesn't need much. Factor in low mileage and they should last for years anyway.

Does anybody know what the Morgan service technicians recommend as to how much grease should be injected into the propshaft universal joints? I’m reading conflicting information from one squeeze of the grease gun trigger to inject until you see grease extruding from the joint seams. I don’t want to damage anything.

Thanks.