Slip joint regreasing

A common problem for Ford Superdutys is a clunk when putting the truck in gear. The gurus at Ford-Diesel.com have found the problem to be a lack of grease in the rear driveshaft splines.

Block the wheels.

Mark the driveshaft and differential alignment. You want to reinstall everything to the proper orientation when you're done.

Remove the four 8mm bolts and drop the driveshaft.

Mark the front part of the driveshaft and remove the bands around the boot. The bands remove easily with a little bit of twisting. In hindsight, you don't have to remove the front band.

Here is the offending piece. Although the splines look greasy in this picture, there was almost no grease on them. The blue coating is almost worn off, too. I guess Ford put the blue stuff on there so it wouldn't clunk when it was driven off the dealer's lot.

Put some bearing grease in the splines.

Here is the female part of the slip shaft. I guess Ford probably saved a dollar by not installing a grease fitting here. If I felt better about my drilling and tapping skills I'd install one myself. Thanks Ford!!

Reinstall everything, taking care to make sure everything is lined up as marked. I used cable ties to reattach the boot. Enjoy 'clunk free' driving.





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