I've seen a few posts regaurding the lack of fittings in the front ends and an injection needle to grease those joints. I've got about 25K miles and I'm in North Texs so it's hotter than hot, and I drive pretty aggresively sometimes.

I've noticed that the grease "pockets" are deflated looking and I'm wondering if the joints may be drier than they should be.

So tell me more about the "needle" and greasing the front end. Anyone have any dealer encounters or problems from lack of proper lubrication?

 

There is two grease fittings on the front end. They are on the right side of truck(passenger side) on the steering linkage. The pitman arm does not have one and after awhile the joint gets dry and starts to get noisy. I found a tip for a grease gun that is long and skinny not really needle like but as close as I could find. I poked a small hole in the boot for the pitman arm with an awl and the grease tip fits in there. No more noise, this will extend the life of the pitman arm somewhat.

 

Any more info. on this? Will teh dealer do it? What fittings need the grease?

-AR

 

I've got one of those needles. It's just a large hollow needle that has a zerk fitting on it so it will attach to the end of the Gun. I just picked it up the the auto parts store where I got the gun (GI Joes, I think). They had a ton of accessories for the gun too. All different sizes and shapes. I picked up one of those small type guns with a flexable hose and the needle. I used it for a noisey water pump. I just sqirted some grease into the top weep hole of the pump. It was only a temporary fix until I could replace the pump. Kept it from making all the noise and leaking. Works great for a temporary fix.

I have not tried to do this to a ball joint. Isn't punching a hole in the boot almost as bad? Won't this let dirt and water into the joint?

 

I grease all of my ball joints, tie rods, pitman arm with a needle just put a drop of clear permatex on the hole when done, that will seal it up, and when you grease again just pop if the permatex and reseal. Make sure the truck is jacked up and the weight is off of truck.

 

I could only find the needle at a farm and home supply store. it looks just like a hypo-needle but with a zerk fitting on the end. Its not problem pushing the needle through the rubber boots, the boots seel back up and dont allow any dirt or air in. All of the rubber boot reservoirs where dry and shrunk up at 20,000 miles on my truck.

 

....what type of grease are y'all using? I've got a grease gun I keep for greasing my mower but it's plain old multi purpose grease.

I suppose I could refer to the manual. I just finished reading it to remember how to set the speed senitive volume. I forgot about it when I reset the compluter when I installed the chip. All these months with no sound system adjusting the volume with my speed. Whoa is me......

 

Hey FamilyRide,

Get yourself a brand new greasegun and a tube of Mobil 1 Synthetic grease. The grease is neon pink in color and does a great job - I use it on literally everything including my mower, mountain bike, door hinges, steering linkage, and chassis.

Another idea - I have a bunch of big syringes with 20ga hypodermic needles left over from a project at work. I filled a couple of those with the Mobil 1 grease. With that, you can take a bearing, clean it out with brake cleaner, and then squirt Mobil 1 grease right between the ball bearings with the syringe. I have used this technique on the oldest and grungiest wheel bearings and mountian bike crank bearings with excellent results.

Good luck,

 

I just bought one of those needles for my grease gun at Checker Auto Parts for $2.99. I already used it on some bearings on a roll around rack.
I plan on using it on the track also.