Now, you want to clean off the zerk to avoid any contaminates following the grease inside. THANK YOU! If you are not careful you could easily be using the rag to wipe blood off of the needle (like I did making this article). U Joints usually come equipped with these female (flush, cup, etc.) I will say that depending on how often you are greasing the bushings and chassis parts it might make economical sense to just load up two grease guns for the different components. Grease – Use the OEM suggested grease or a Heavy Duty Lithium Synthetic or Marine grease. Normally They are seated below the lip of the housing and you would have to be going over some crazy terrain to tear that boot. i just replaced my front right ball joint on honda crv 2005 but the mechanic lost the valve where you insert the gun to add grease. * If you have a rough commute or hit the trails on the weekend then take your vehicle out on some similar terrain and check the joints afterward. This will boil out any hardened grease that is plugging the grease fitting. There are a few ways that you can keep the boot completely intact. He also said there could be control arm bushing damage that isn’t visible from the outside. One of the easiest tricks is to treat the zerk like a cap. * A mini grease gun simplifies the greasing process when there is little room to maneuver. Good […]. You could try replacing with a standard zerk fitting, but it might break off against another part of your vehicle. Lastly, take the vehicle around the block or down a dirt road if that’s your daily commute. Grease zerk fittings can be replaced with 45 or 90 degree angle fittings, making present and future maintenance easier in terminally hard to reach spots. Annual main- This makes it impossible to use a grease-able ball joint. Determine the number of sealant injection ports on the valve seats. Yeah, using the needle is pretty much a last ditch effort to squeeze some life out of/quiet down a ball joint that’s on its way out soon anyway. We’re glad you found the article useful. Has anyone used this method to grease a sealed ball joint? Unless you’re hearing some groaning from the ball joint when you turn or your steering gets a little sticky as, you can safely assume there is some grease on that bearing. Before operating the ball valve, you should first Inject a small amount of cleaning fluid or grease to protect the valve seal 7) Check if the operation of the fully open or fully closed valve is functioned, check whether there is a blocking phenomenon, if the valve torque is too large (single-person operation is difficult), the cleaning fluid should be injected to fully clean and move the valve Quantities required to top-up any valve can vary greatly depending on the valve size, design, cycle frequency, service conditions and riser pipe height, if applicable. h�bbd```b``���+��=ɹ,>LJ�H�F0�Ln��I�.��`�fi�H2^��%A$�I��&����#�g�жaB�g`�z � ��� * The sealant system is a network of grooves and channels inside the valve leading to seal points around the ball, gate or plug. This is so helpful!! […] easy lubrication of a ball joint with ball joints? I have always jacked up my vehicle to take the weight of the vehicle off the ball joints when I lubed the ball joints. Insert the needle into the side of the boot near where the boot is connected to the housing of the ball joint so new grease has a better chance of getting into the bearing. They can be a real pain since they require a special grease needle for lubrication, but here are some quick tips for a female U Joint zerk: Does anyone else know of any tips or tricks for a U Joint or other greaseable suspension parts? Do Not open valve too far. inspect o rings if leak originates from base. Pump a little grease out of the grease gun before attaching the it to the zerk fitting to make sure its charged, then just pump once or twice. The valve has an inlet in each end for the supply pipe to enter, and depending on the valve can be cemented to the pipe or tightened in place with nuts. If so, how long before it completely gives out? when bouncing and underneath the car, it seems like the squeaking could be from the actual pivots on the control arm bushings. 2. There probably won’t be much if any excess grease but if there is wiping it down will keep dust and debris from collecting on that extra grease around the joint and allow a quicker diagnosis of future problems. Wipe up any excess valve grease immediately. %%EOF It has a zerk fitting under a rubber cap so it should be easy for me to add the grease. Please leave them in the comments section at the bottom of the page or if you have questions you can contact the customer service folks at suspension.com. For one thing greaseable ball joints are designed to allow grease to flow out, taking contaminates and old grease with it. Consequently if you try and put sealant injection into the middle of the body and the valve is in the closed position all you’re doing is injecting grease into the middle of the ball. If you want to be able to consistently lubricate your ball joints buying one that already has a zerk fitting installed is the best option. This can be tricky so we advise caution. Hello, I own a Honda CRV and there is only 2mm clearance for a Zerk nipple between the ball joint and the spinning CV axle. Weather stripping adhesive can be used to cover the needle hole in the dust boot if you’re worried that water or contaminates might make their way through to the smooth working surface of the ball joint. Anyone else have another trick for a ball joint that won’t take grease? If it’s just too rusty or corroded then you should remove the grease zerk and install a new one. Rag – To clean the zerk and wipe excess grease away. how to grease tie rod ends with a zerk fitting. two questions, one is all the reviews on the needles half the people say they break is that from like a stick or they bust from pushing too much pressure of grease thru them? This how-to will lay out detailed instructions for greasing sealed ball joints and those that have zerk fittings. It really makes detaching the grease gun and the zerk much easier. Once you notice any kind of swelling from the boot you should stop pumping grease. Good luck and hope this works for you Dana. That should give you enough to get new grease on the ball stud surface. Used in many hydrocarbon process applications, ball valves are capable of throttling gases and vapors and are especially useful for low-flow situations. So, there you have it. We had a similar question come up regarding grease for tie rod ends which is a similar part and you might find the response helpful. If the coupler at the end of your grease gun is adjustable try loosening it to make the process easier. Hope this was helpful and thanks for the question Fred. This is a pretty advanced method that could provide some benefits but there are two big drawbacks to consider: 1) The process of tapping a ball joint could result in metal shavings working their way between the ball and the bearing surface, or the surface of the ball itself could be damaged. My questions are as follows: can I keep the vehicle ground level with tires on and simply fill the boot with grease? You expect the lubrication process to be short and sweet but if grease is oozing out of every connection on your gun when you start pumping then something is definitely off. 612 0 obj <> endobj This will A) keep dirt and debris from collecting around the joint and B) allow any leakage to show up more quickly later down the road. Any suggestions ? Detach the coupler from the fitting. In order to re-grease the joint I would have to pull the axle out and unscrew a plug then screw in a grease fitting, Then put it all back together with the plug installed where the grease fitting was. Try to find the needle’s pressure “sweet spot” — push too hard and it impedes the flow of grease, too soft and most of the grease ends up on the outside. How can you tell is there is any damage to the dust boot? This is a rule of thumb and a maintenance suggestion which can vary depending on many circumstances. DO NOT try to remove the grease fitting from the valve body while valve is pressurized. You can use a grease zerk needle attachment to get past the dust boot and pump some grease into that ball joint. Maybe they study, however, didn’t comment, even to say THANKS? ... Ball Valve Oilers; Part No: Also the grease could turn into a hard deposit and obstruct the valve from operating. Say you’re taking your 4×4 axle deep in mud every weekend; you may want to grease those ball joints a little more often. Working parts and lubricant areas of plug, ball and gate valves, presented from the operator and maintenance point of view. Puncturing the boot really seems like a silly thing to do since you’re essentially compromising the integrity of the shield that keeps the grease in and debris out. So, less is more… unless there’s a reason to use more. 631 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<802EE11F821FEB4CA3CACC345703E43A>]/Index[612 56]/Info 611 0 R/Length 100/Prev 202079/Root 613 0 R/Size 668/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream If you’re just hearing some noises from the ball joints on your daily driver then you’re probably fine just giving it a few good pumps. Lubricate the plug on older plug valves. As a rule, when commissioning, pigging and hydrotesting, grease up to one ounce per inch per seat ring. You lose the ability to “feel” when the joint begins to resist the pressure and there is no better way to blow a seal than a powered grease gun. Flexible Hose – This is almost a universal requirement. A Grease Gun – We suggest a manually powered grease gun that will put you in direct control of how much grease goes in and allow you to “feel” any resistance that the ball joint might be giving while you grease it. Ball joint maintenance is important for the longevity of the part and, consequently, the steering of your vehicle so throwing a little grease their way can pay you back handsomely. First, some dust boots can actually be lifted away from the housing of the ball joint enough to insert the needle between them, so you can get around sticking the boot. There are no zerk fittings for the bushings, only the ball joint. If there is still no grease moving you can use a propane torch to heat up the zerk. We would love to hear about any success stories or helpful hints that you’ve uncovered. If the ball must remain in the closed position during installation of the valve, coat the exposed surfaces of the ball with grease. Valve Lubricant 601 TM is a fully hydrocarbon resistant valve grease approved by 6 major valve OEM’s, and has an impressive track record of performance. He said you might try WD40 along with silicone instead of PB but his first suspicion is worn sway bar bushings or end links since they are the most common culprits for squeaking noise in his experience. But a sealed ball joint is just that; sealed. What are your thoughts? That’s a bummer about the low clearance. Liqui Moly 47 appears to be a lithium/petroleum grease with a molybdenum disulfide additive and an NLGI 2 rating which makes it about on par with many chassis grease options. Inspect the O-rings. Check here for more information about the best grease for ball joints. If you’re worried about contaminates coming through the pinhole you can use liquid weather stripping adhesive to cover the spot. The seal that holds that grease in the ball joint can be compromised if too much pressure is applied. Some humans! What do they mean by tapping the ball joint for the zerk? As for your question, our resident mechanic said that he would probably not go to the trouble of jacking up the vehicle just to service the ball joints. Is there a lot of vibration from the front when you drive? The space in-between the ball stud and the bearing is very small so one or two shots of grease should be enough to cover the surface you’re aiming for. In the end, his suggestion was taking the vehicle to an auto tech (mechanic) if the problem isn’t obvious. Remove the needle and clean off any excess grease. You might check out this comment about chassis grease ratings for some related information. Sheesh! Grease is good for noise and maintenance but no amount of it will bring a failed ball joint back to life. You can use these same tools and our post about how to grease tie rod ends with a zerk fitting to lubricate another sealed suspension component on your vehicle. The primary seal in older lubricated plug valves is metal-to … Replace on carrier, ( make sure the water level is low so your not fighting the action of the arm and risk cross threading it), now refill the tank, and check the level, (idealy minimum 75mm below water outlet), if its wrong, grasp the arm close to the valve and close to the ball and bend the arm a little, bend down to lower the level, bend up to increase it. 667 0 obj <>stream If you can keep your parts in good working order with a little periodic lubrication your vehicle is going to thank you with better service over more miles. Here at DST we suggest Lucas X-TRA Heavy Duty Grease because it’s a great option that is rated for use on chassis parts… and we sell it as part of our Grease Gun Combo . Theoretically, these ball joints will not need any extra grease and are sealed up tight so contaminates can’t get inside, but if you notice a groaning while turning then the culprit might be a grease-thirsty ball joint. As with any part with a dust boot, you should check the boot. Great question and one of the biggest issues most folks have with this method. As far as the LCABs go our resident ASE certified mechanic said without seeing the vehicle he couldn’t really diagnose the problem. This picture illustrates the difference between a sealed ball joint and one designed to be lubricated. Ball valves use a metal ball with a hole bored through the center, sandwiched between two seats to control flow. We would love to see some pictures. Does anyone else want to weigh in on the “benefits vs risk” issue of greasing sealed ball joints with a zerk needle? Keep some pressure on the coupler to make sure the seal is tight. Detach the coupler from the fitting. In any case, keep fighting the good fight of grease maintenance and may you be blessed with many more miles of smooth and quiet driving. Some say you should continue greasing until you see grease ooze around the boot but maintaining that seal is important so we opt for the safer route. So maybe I have been lucky with the original parts, or my process has helped. The grease you mentioned is very multi-purpose which is why it’s more expensive. Don’t use substandard hoses. Tapping a ball joint means drilling a hole in the cover plate, using a “tap” to create threads in the hole, and screwing a zerk into it. i just replaced upper and lower ball joints on my dodge ram 4×4 I filled the upper just fine but I could get no grease in the lower. If the hole is a size that is concerning you one fix we’ve heard is using liquid weather stripping adhesive to paint the hole which should give you a pretty reliable seal. Good luck! First of all, it really takes some effort to damage Moog’s integrated dust boots. Here we will show you a simple way to clear that zerk fitting. After the second pump you could be causing undue pressure on the seal holding that grease inside the ball joint and blowing the grease seal does much more harm than not adding new grease since the grease you do have will ooze out as the suspension travels. Have the right fittings on hand. What? It helps to remember that the boot is not a reservoir of grease for the ball joint, it’s there to keep contaminates from getting into the joint. If you’re trying to flush out old grease or debris then pumping until the boot swells will push the junk down away from the bearing, but if the boot does not have a release valve of some kind you could bust the seal between the joint and the boot with too much grease. This could mean a busted seal, but if everything looks and sounds in order then congratulations, you’ve just greased the un-greasable. This will give you a flexible, heat resistant barrier that will keep grease in and debris out. Create a system map. Joking aside, you’re likely paying almost 4X more for Super Lube than you would for a grease that we recommend (Lucas X-Tra Heavy Duty) which is designed specifically for chassis and articulating automotive parts on farm and heavy duty vehicles. Secondly, you run the risk of getting metal shavings into the smooth inner workings of the ball joint during installation, and that will send your part down hill faster than a grease deficit. This adhesive forms a flexible, water-proof seal that is resistant to the elements. While this would save some money over the long haul it’s not a necessity, though there’s not really a reason to use Super Lube instead of the Lucas for chassis parts… unless that’s what you’ve already got loaded up . Any advice on the LCA bushing area. Most replacement ball joints should be properly greased before you ever open the box, but if the ball joint has a zerk fitting then it should be able to accept and flush grease and any extra should be icing on the cake. I changed fitting w/ no results What have I done wrong? If possible, operate the valve and determine its’ condition. Thank you for the information. Grease should be pumped into the ball cavity with the valve in the open position. The grease is pumped into the seat area then squirts out and spreads between the seat and closure member, creating a thin, leak-sealing film. You can also look at our post about how to grease tie rod ends with a zerk fitting for another suspension part that can be greased in your own garage. As for tape or sealant the most common kind we’ve heard of is weather stripping adhesive, but any waterproof adhesive should work. Clean off the boot and joint so you can see what is going on with the boot and the seal when you begin pumping grease into it. In upstate NY we have much snow and salt with temp changes and water can be drawn into the joint as it cools in wet weather. If a non-leaking ball valve is lubricated with an adhesive grease/sealant, the floating, spring loaded seats can become stuck within their seat pockets. Open valve with 1 inch opening in bore. Stay safe out there. If you really want to apply something how about a Teflon aerosol squirted up from outside? The ball valve is an inexpensive alternative to other valves. Your long term solution is finding a replacement zerk at your local hardware store. API 6D ball valves are also equipped with lubrication ports or fittings. NO POWERED GREASE GUNS. Taking pressure off of the ball joint can allow the grease to get through when it wouldn’t otherwise. Only bad things can happen, so stick with the hand pump. Excellent article! This is good information. We suggest Lucas X-tra Heavy Duty Grease or Marine Grease because they are designed to last in extreme circumstances and environments. It’s been two days now and my tire is making a clunking sound, like something is in my rim. If it is torn or missing completely then you need to replace the dust boot since contaminates might already be inside the smooth metal innards, wearing the part down and setting it up to fail soon. Also, are there different sized zerks for each ball joint?