So I was up under the truck and inspecting the undercarriage and noticed a lot of grease sling at the front u-joint...
The rear one is spotless, the joint feels pretty snug and the sling appears to be coming from the joint not the tail stock of the tranny...
There are no grease fittings on the joint, its got about 47k miles on it.

I'll keep and eye on it, it could also be because it takes a bit more heat transfered from the transmission causing the grease to expand and sling...

Opinions?

 

i'd definetely replace that joint. one of the seals somewhere popped. won't be long before the needles inside the cups dry out, heat up and blow out. $10-$15 joint, half hour or so of work. sure beats the potentially dangerous alternative.

 

Agree. Can't imagine what happens if the front end of a driveshaft falls out but bet it's not pretty.

You can still get U-joints w/ zerks. Just install so that the zerk hole is in compression when truck is going forward.

Harbor Freight sells a ball joint press that will work on U-joints.

Edit: Wouldn't the U-joints be covered under the 5 yr/100K powertrain warranty?

 

I'm about due for an oil change and tire rotation, when I take it in I will ask my service writer to check it out....if its covered I'll have'um knock it out. If not I'll have a project

 

I checked out the 5yr 100k on GM's site and well they make nearly impossible to grab the text but I can get a screen shot and it looks like U-joints are covered...

 

I checked through my own resources and your universal joint is covered under the 5 year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, under normal circumstances, as it shows in the document you attached to the above post,. I hope that answers whether or not that part is covered for you. If you run into any problems with this process feel free to contact me through the forum.

Jeff Morris, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

It does answer it and I appreciate the follow up Jeff, thanks!

 

You're very welcome. This is what I am here for!

Jeff Morris, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

Took the truck in this morning for oil,filter and rotation and to have them check the u-joint out... My service writer told me that if it was needing to be replaced that they usually do both at the same time and not just one...

It turns out that the joint was fine.. the excess grease was from a previous servicing I had for the notorious clunk, they had greased up the joint and the excess had just gotten spun out....
I tended to agree as the joint did feel solid and I was not feeling any vibrations at speed...

 

How did they lube it? Without a zerk, you'd have to disassemble it or try to inject w/ a needle attachment. Not sure that would work but can't seem them disassembling.