The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Crusty old grease fittings

Got some in the front end that don’t seem eager to take grease. Go on a zerk replacing rampage? Apply a little strategic heat with a propane torch?

New fittings are cheap insurance, but heat is also your friend. Be careful- - - -hot grease can squirt quite a distance!
Jerry

I've been on a suspension related tear lately. Whats been working well on OLD crusty grease and grit encrusted parts and that includes zerks is to put them in a closed container along with a powerful grease cutting solvent overnight. Next day the curd just falls off.

On zerks a quick brush with a small wire brush, and a squirt of grease with a grease gun to clear out the now softened old grease and they're good to reinstall. Now if it's old hard grease in whatever you're greasing causing the problem then as Jerry said, heat is your friend.

On, and the powerful solvent I've found works best is gasoline. Always use it outside the shop in a no flame, no spark (including static electricity) environment.

RonR

Acetone also works well, too.

Ed

Gasoline really is a wonderful thing. I’m incapable of greasing anything without making a terrible mess. Gas was used in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. I think part of my problem is also grease guns with less-than-ideal end couplings.

Perhaps just paranoia: But replacing the original fittings and replacing with stuff of questionable offshore origin…feels wrong. If anyone knows of a good quality brand of zerks with a good track record, I’m open to suggestions.

I bought a LockNLube coupler for my grease gun a few years ago. Makes lube job a LOT EASIER.

Kids at the Chevy dealer working the oil change shift apparently don't know what grease zerks are. I had my 2500HD in for routine maintenance etc., got it home and could tell they never touched a zerk, called the service manager and he said get it right back and it'll get done if he has to do it himself. I think my truck has 11 zerks.

I don't think there's a smart phone app for that!
LOL!
Jerry

Backstory stuff:

My 13 yr old son took some aptitude test at school last week and two different mechanical careers were the top two recommendations. He’s (for the moment) pretty fired up to learn/ do some stuff and I’m fired up to seize the day and let him explore these interests.

The 51 needs a chassis grease. I thought this would be a project I could turn him loose on with a little guidance and let him have some fun. Get to roll around on the creeper, feel like a mechanic, etc. I find greasing to be an oddly satisfying task.

Between grease gun trouble and ancient crusty fittings, it definitely wasn’t easy. But I think we still had fun and I don’t seem to have ruined him yet. I might be careful to pick a different sort of task for our next lesson that he can experience some better results.

Good idea, JW. You don’t want to wreck the horse!

This reminds me...I need a new grease gun. The old junker I pulled out of the dumpster at the oil battery 18 years ago doesn’t work very well anymore. Weird.

I didn't think about that!, if I take some pictures with my Brownie camera and do an audio on 8 track I could "learn 'em" how to take care of it. I just don't know how to jamb them pictures through the telegraph wires to get 'em to the Chevy dealer.

I read on one the forums, on one of the many web sites. older truck guys having same issue at the oil change shops. I found it does not matter what year it is half the time they don't ever Lube a vehicle anymore. (ones that actually have zerks) One of the guys suggested to put a card with with the zerk list and locations in the glove box. hand it to they crew when you pull in. I have done that on all my trucks old and modern and a majority of the time i get " I wish everyone did this" " Made it so much faster and easier". I never get " I know what I am doing" cause half of them are not old enough to know what they are doing.

Thats a great plan, I'll have to crawl under it soon and count them, thanks for the info.

I have found that a small safety pin will clean out the fittings that don’t have a ball bearing in them.

That’s good to know.

I bought a Dewalt 20V grease gun a few years ago and immediately tried it out on my '48 Chevy 1.5 ton load-master. Its rear suspension fittings had blown out every other attempt to lube them with a conventional gun. The power grease gun blew right through them! That was 3 or 4 years ago, its the only grease gun I use anymore, and I highly suggest one.
Curt