I do my own oil changes and took a look today to see if there were any places that needed lubed. I couldn't find anything. Does anyone know if we have zerks hidden somewhere?

 

Nope, none.

 

Thank you....

 

FWIW, I use a needle that fits on the end of a plain ol' grease gun to grease points in my suspension...poke a small hole into the dust boot and shoot some grease in there. I'm not prematurely buying suspension parts just 'cause Ford wanted to cheap out.

 

What grease are you using?
I still have two or three of the needles, etc. for greasing.

To others who do this, be careful not to put too much in there, you do NOT want to rupture that rubber...
Chris

 

Whatever I can find, heh. I dunno the specific brand, I guess just a generic grease that comes in those cartridges that fits in grease guns.

 

OK, Back in the dark old days of grease fittings I recall we were always careful not to mix types of grease.
If you do happen to find the grade/type it would be kind of you to post it.
Thanks
Chris

 

Man, I just hate it when that happens.

 

This is the same group that's changing the plugs early.....right?

 

Something wrong with a little extra maintenance? I do a little extra but not as much as some. I see no problem in taking care of your truck. I have a 96' F350 that is in showroom condition. It didn't stay that way by just doing the minimum.

 

I have to ask, do you do any maintance on your truck yourself? Do you ever keep anything more than 2-3 years? Do you know anything about technical matters?
Not a dig, or insult, I actually am curious. You troll every maintance thread and I have to wonder why?

 

Yes, I keep all my vehicles at least 6 years, and most of them so far, 10 years.

I do all my own maintenance, and anything technical I don't already know, I know how to research, and my reading comprehension is at a high level.

The last truck I owned before my new King Ranch was a 1998 Lariat regular cab long bed, with a leather interior, 4.6 and a 5 speed manual transmission.

That truck had 80,000 miles on it, when I sold it.

Aside from the regular oil change interval, the only parts that needed to be changed was the battery (at 65K), and the wiper blades.

It still had the original brakes and the original tires on it, and all drive-line parts were the factory installed parts, when I sold it. The serpentine belt, the radiator hoses.....everything original. (I had aftermarket wheels/tires on it for about 20K miles)

The only reason I sold that truck was because I needed a bigger cab.

Anyway, why do you ask?

 

I truly wonder why you complain constantly about people taking care of their vehicles, or even, God forbid, exceeding the minimum that the dealer calls for.

It seems you don't put very many miles on your vehicles. Or drive them in adverse conditions.
Or care about doing a better than minimum job.
I don’t see you in the care and detailing section complaining about all of those posters that exceed the factory recommendations on taking care of the finish…
After all, just running it through a car wash three times a year is more than enough, right?

As to usage that requires you exceed the minimum factory maintenance, in my community on the high desert, we have roads and streets that are poorly maintained due to location and local conditions.

Driving conditions are listed as among the worst in the world. Heavy traffic, high speeds, some of the highest temperatures in the world, as well as altitude, blown sand and snow.
In a normal week any car here may go from the snows of Big Bear to the center of Death Valley.

A normal commute is 75 miles each way through LA traffic, up the Cajon Pass, 0-85 repeated over and over, pot holes at 85, then sit in traffic in 120 plus degrees for an hour with the A/C on.
Most cars in this area get 40-70k mile a year. If you keep it three years you can expect to replace the front end, shocks, transmission etc. once to three times.
Or you can do lots of ‘extra’ maintenance.

The recommendations in the book are for light duty service. We don’t get that here. Maybe in small town Midwest, North Florida, etc, but not here.

Ford considers all of our driving to be ‘severe service’.
Of course, if you actually push your truck hard, drive fast or don’t live near the freeway, you go way beyond severe service into what the dealers consider abuse.

I know hundreds of people that live down one to three miles of dirt road. This is not the nice dirt road you get in Kansas; this is desert drift sand, washboard road.
Nasty on any kind of truck. Your whole front end can wear out and drop on the ground in 100k.

I have a sister who drives two miles of washboard road from behind the Devil’s Punchbowl, then down the 14 into LA 6 days a week. 72 miles each way.
She buys a new truck every three years. They are scrap by the time she parks them.
Even with better than dealer maintenance the front ends fall out by 150k miles, that’s about 25 months on the average.
I suppose she should insist that the trucks should last forever on dealer maintenance schedules…
Or perhaps she shouldn’t be allowed to live in a nice place, and still work at a good job since that requires extra maintenance…
Has in ever occurred to you that we don’t all live down your street?

 

And Ford never considered that when they, and every other American car manufacturer switched to the "Lubed For Life" chassis system.....on a TRUCK no-less.

Right............

Did it ever occur to anyone that mixing different types of grease actually causes more wear?

Whatever.....get busy with those U-Joints......I can hear them rusting from here.

 

Always the sarcasm, never any thing helpful...

Ford and the others don't really care about people who live in harsh climates, etc.
They even admit it.
They are in business to sell cars, not insure your car lasts a long time.
Period.

Mixing different kinds of grease MAY decrease lifespan. You should learn something about the field before you post on it.

Notice I was asking Quintin which the proper grease is.

Aftermarket U-joints always come with grease fittings
. Every maker, Spicer for example, tells you to lube them every year at the minimum.

On the originals, which they also make, they recommend replacement every 50k miles. With greaseable joints.

By the way, U-joints usually last about 60k around here on a new truck. I have seen them exceed 100, but only if you keep it on the freeway most of the time.

Me, my truck is a toy. I enjoy tinkering with it. But many readers of the forums actually use their trucks for actual truck stuff.
Which wears them out pretty fast if you don’t exceed the minimum maintenance schedule.

Of course those that buy King Ranch trucks to go to the grocery store in lotus land really don’t need to be reading these threads.
Or being sarcastic to those that do need them.