The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Can't get grease into kingpin fitting. Tool?

I can't get grease into the new zerk for my kingpins. I read where there's a tool that you can load with grease, put it on the zerk and tap the end with a hammer. (Tap not hit.) You could also put oil thinned with kerosene in it and work your way up to grease.

Anybody know of such a tool?

I do not know of the tool, but what I do when greasing my kingpins is I jack up the front end and turn the steering wheel left and right while adding grease (I have a helper of course). When I first got the truck I had a hard time getting grease into the kingpins, and now it goes easily.

A Propane torch is your friend- - - - -there's nothing about a kingpin and a spindle that will be damaged by a little heat. Decades' worth of old congealed grease is going to be hard to dislodge unless you warm it up a little.
Jerry

here is the tool for clogged zerk fittings.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XP4YG1...Y2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I believe there is a hole in the kingpin bushing that lines up with the grease fitting hole? If not lined up the grease has nowhere to go. I've used Jerrys propane torch method to free up many clogged grease fittings on my farm machinery.

Rick

Just be careful doing that on the round baler! 😉 Clean it out first!

You wrote that this is a new zerk. Recently I installed a new zerk on a farm machinery fitting and it would absolutely not accept grease. Had me completely befuddled for a moment or so... Turns out it was broken from the factory. You may want to remove the zerk and run some grease through it to see if it actually works.

Wally,

I think you are referring to this tool -- the Grease Fitting Cleaning Tool. NAPA sells one, too, as do most other mechanical tool retailers. I have one and have used it extensively on my truck, the backhoe and other pieces of farm machinery -- at least until I figured out that a box of assorted new zerks (in the correct thread...) was the better answer -- especially on antique equipment with fossilized grease. I was taught to use diesel fuel and to whack the crap out of it -- which usually makes a mess and, on older equipment with fossilized grease and corroded zerks, isn't effective anyway.

JM

.....at the plant we had rollers inside a hot oven that we had to grease the pillar bearing on and it was a tough job.
We would take the zerk out and soak them good with Kroil and let it set for a few minutes as we moved on greasing the ones that were not clogged. After a few minutes we could get the dried clogged ones to take the grease.....just another suggestion.

The new zerks were OK. On jack stands, I torched it. Still, couldn't get an grease into it. Mrs. Wally wanted her garage back so I took it to an alignment shop. They worked on it with penetrating oil and got grease into it. It's not real loosie goosie but I'm happy. One hour of labor charge was worthwhile to me. $92.

Thanks for your advice!

Sometimes you have to put the truck on stands up front and have someone turn the steering while grease is being pumped in .

I see this often at work with stuff that hasn’t been breaded in a long time,

The grease goes hard and blocks the port solid, it depends how bad it is as to how far you have to go, an easy starting point is to grab a 1/4” drill.

Take the grease fitting out and with your hands wind the drill in and pull the crap out. Often this opens it up enough so it will take grease again. I’ve also had it where it’s still blocked so I made up a fitting that would go into the item with a JIC on the other end so I can fit a porta power pump to it and pump hydraulic oil through it to clear the blockage.

After that you’ve just got to strip it down and clean everything out

Regular maintenance would prevent the hardening grease issue. It just needs a shot now and then.

Take the fitting out and dose it with some Kroil or other penetrating oil and let it work.
.....we use to have rollers with the pillar block bearing on the inside of a drying over that would get hard and not take grease. A good soaking with Kroil a time or two and let it sit for a little, would do the trick.

Or one could just buy new grease fittings to fit, they are cheap.

Ed

The Book says to grease the king pins every 1,000 miles. Who does that?

Every 1,000 miles - I do it.

I love my trucks and I take care of them.
I do not want to void the warranty.

Please be careful heating grease fittings! I treated a guy who got it hot enough that burning grease flew back into his face and neck. It melted his skin and was pretty disturbing!

Chris

My neighbor didn't know he was supposed to grease the king pins. So eventually the bushings seized to the pins and spun the bushings in the spindle. By the time it got to me you could hardly turn the steering wheel. No way to get grease in. So with nothing to lose I took the drill and made new holes in the bushings. Now it would take grease. So he drove it a while till the kingpins started to rattle and he couldn't keep it going straight and I put new kingbolt set in. It would have been hell to get apart with it all seized up. Of course I had to heat the axle eyes as it was but I didn't have to heat the spindles.