Tom Woods driveshafts have the advantage of being fully greasable. This same strength can be a nuisance when it comes time to grease them. There are basically five greasing points on the TW 1310 shaft and they are as follows:

A view of the entire driveshaft...


There are three zerk fittings for the three U-joints. They are greasable with a standard grease gun...




Grease these until you see clean grease coming out of all 4 U-joint seals. Wipe them down thoroughly afterwards to avoid grease getting coated on your underbody while you drive.

The fourth zerk fitting is for the slip joint. It is next to the differential side of the shaft...


Grease this one until you see grease coming out of the slip spline.

The last one is inaccessible when the shaft is still on your Jeep, so you'll very likely have to drop both front and rear shafts to get to this fifth one. It's a small nipple just next to the first U-joint of the double cardan...


You can grease this using the Tom Woods supplied service tool...


Or buy a grease injector from your local auto store...


Grease this until you notice grease purging out of the U-joint cavity area. You'll notice a lot of grease coming out of the nipple itself while greasing. This is normal. Just be sure to apply firm pressure against the nipple and continue to grease until you see grease purge at the U-joint cavity.

Once all five joints are done, you're all set! You can then reinstall the shaft.

I'll write an accompanying post to this thread to share some tips I learned when dropping my driveshafts. Not the most easy thing in the world so for the home-schooled mechanic out there, these tips can save you hours of frustration. Read further down the post for that!

 

Well I found out there's a fifth fitting that you can't see without dropping the driveshaft. And you need a special tool to grease it - basically a grease injector. It is for the ball joint in the middle of the double cardan.

Anyway, I greased up all my driveshafts tonight because of a squeak that came from that ball joint. Have enough pictures, experiences and tips to do a full write up. Will update the OP soon!

 

Updated with pictures and instructions.

 

I'll be totally frank-I know almost nothing about working on cars. I am a lawyer so I have been paying the local 4x4 shop to do all my mods (good shop btw, distrib for PSC, TF, AEV, etc). Not unhappy with his work but I take it up the...for everything I need because I don't know how to do it. All that stuff that you guys know how to do. I tore my ds boot during the summer out wheeling so I replaced front with TW 1310. Had been optimistic that I could at least handle greasing it. Now seeing your writeup Chris I am depressed again. You mention removing DS to complete the greasing. :(

I don't have the faintest idea how to do that, much less even what tool(s) I would need.

And, when wheeling on Thursday my buddy noticed that mg front OEM tie rod is slightly bent and my steering stabilizer got smacked so I need new ones.

Yet another couple things that all you guys know how to do that I can't.

I am frustrated with myself, not all of you, but I sit here reading all the cool stuff you do to your rigs and just watch my credit card bill go up paying Lou to do it....

I need to work with guys who can show me the ropes. Unfortunately, Jae lives 140 miles away so by the time I drive down to his shop and pay for gas I might as well just have Lou do it. Although I guess once J learn then I could do it myself going forward. That "teach a man to fish" thing...

Anyway, just venting at my own ineptitude.....thanks guys.

 

This supplemental write-up is aimed to help those who are dropping their driveshafts for the first time and are apprehensive about it. It's not a terribly user friendly experience and these tips may save you a few hours of aggravation.

First, park your Jeep on a flat and level surface. Then chock all four tires firmly, ensuring there is no possible movement on any of them. Then, turn on your Jeep, engage it into 4 high and while putting your transmission in neutral, turn the ignition off. Your four wheels should now be free to turn.

If you're doing this on a lifted Jeep (3 inches or higher with larger tires - say, 34 plus) you should be able to get on the underside with just a creeper and without jacking it up. This should be the case with most people since you'll only ever get aftermarket driveshafts with a lift.

The first thing you should do is remove the transfer case skid. It covers both double cardan ends on both front and rear driveshafts. It comes off with 4 bolts using a 18 metric socket and ratchet/impact gun. Be careful removing the plate as it is heavy and awkward.






You should be able to see the front double cardan ends on both front and rear shafts now...

Front:


Rear:


I suggest working on one shaft at a time. I did the rear shaft first but the front is the same process.

Start by removing the double cardan end at the yoke. There are four bolts there removable with a 13 metric hand wrench (sockets won't fit). The first two closest bolts should be easily visible and accessible...


Jack the rear of the Jeep up on the differential just high enough for the two rear tires to clear the ground. If you're fully chocked and since all four tires will not be removed, it should be safe to just leave the diff on the jack. If you want to be extra careful, you can put the axle on jack stands.

With the rear tires off the ground, manually rotate the tires which will in turn rotate the shaft! Do this until the hidden two bolts are accessible. At this point, drop the axle back down so that the tires are on the ground again. This is to ensure the shaft maintains the same location when you reinstall it.

Then remove the last two bolts on the t-case side. The shaft should stay in place since it's still synched with the u-joint grooves.

Move to the differential side and remove the four bolts at that yoke using a 16 metric and ratchet//impact gun...


Once the last bolt comes off, the shaft will drop down freely. Be sure to properly brace and lower it as it can be heavy.

The driveshaft is now completely dropped and you can work it on freely now!

To reinstall the shaft, start by slipping the double cardan end onto its groves and lining up the rear of the shaft on the diff yoke. Fully rebolt the diff yoke. Then rebolt the double cardan end. Like before you can get to the first two bolts easily but the two hidden ones are somewhat inaccesible. Fully tighten the first two bolts, jack up the rear axle until the tires clear the ground, rotate the tires and consequently the driveshafts until the other two bolt holes are exposed. Reattach those bolts.

And you're done! Repeat the same thing for the front shaft. To lift the axle on the front, you will very likely want to use two jacks and lift it under the lower control arm brackets. But either than that, it should be the same process.

When you're done, be sure to reattach your t-case skid, move the transmission back to Park, and then remove the tire chocks.

And that's it. That's how you drop and reinstall your driveshafts to grease or service it. Hope this helps.

 

Hey don't despair! I'm a weekend warrior myself and half the battle is overcoming your fear and just saying "F**k it, I'm just gonna do it!". It's amazing how much courage and determination you get once you dive in. After you're done the confidence and knowledge you get are second to none!

By the way, I added a supplemental post about how to drop your driveshafts. It's a somewhat PITA process but give yourself lots of time and take it slow. Be methodical and most of all, dive in! You'll never know what you can do until you try!

 

Thanks for the pep talk Chris. Maybe i'll set aside a block of time and give it a shot. I appreciate your detailed instructions. Thanks again!

 

 

I have never removed the skid for my front Woody. There is plenty of room to get to the bolts with it in place, and it gives a place the rest the shaft while bolting it up. Also, have dropped or installed the shaft a few times in a parking lot or just off the trail. No jack or stands needed, you can pull forward/reverse a bit to turn the shaft enough to get to the other bolts.

Another tip would be to take care with the caps when you remove/install. You don't want to have one drop.
- Wrap some tape around the ujoint to keep the caps on if you are going to keep the shaft out for whatever reason. (taking it in for a balance, long road trip where you won't need 4wd, to eliminate a vibe source, whatever)

 

I can get to my double cardan without removing the shaft. No doubt, it's a PIA but can't be any more so than dropping the entire shaft. I find the fitting and then rotate the shaft so the fitting is just short of 90 degrees towards the driver's side. There's just enough room to wedge the needle in between the exhaust pipe and the joint. The only downside to not dropping the shaft is you can't really clean all the purged grease off of the joints so the underside of my Jeep looks like a grease tuck exploded under it -- and it stinks real bad for the first few miles while it burns off the exhaust pipe.