Everything Chassis Lubrication Lube zerk etc

[Roy]

I am generally one who likes to change my own oil and filter, but the AV schedule is to lubricate the chassis etc at every oil change, and I prefer to have the chassis lub's etc done by someone else.

I've noticed on the posts that AV owners who are having someone else change their AV's oil, they also mention "lube job" along with the oil and filter change.  But when an individual AV owner mentions changing his own oil and filter, no one mentions the "lub job" they do with the oil change.  Are the individual "oil changers" foregoing the "lub job".

Roy in Tampa  


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[wrchism]

The lube job is no harder / messier than changing the oil.  Search and read the threads on chassis lube.  Get a grease gun with a flex hose, and you'll be set.

I tend to do the chassis lube when I rotate tires - easier to get to some fittings with the wheels off.   Also, if you change oil every 3k miles, to lube every oil change seems a bit too frequent.

[rollinthunder40]

Hey Bro, It's very easy to lube your own undercarriage. It's even simpler than changing the oil. Under the front end are numerous zirk fittings, for tie rods, ball joints, steering linkages, etc.. All you need to do is by a $10 grease gun and buy a tube of general purpose grease, the dude at the Auto parts store can turn you on to the one you need. Once you figure out how to use the gun, you are ready to go. Go to a place that'll let you use their lift or use a hydraulic jack. Put the hose on the zircs and give them a squirt or two. The proper way is to see some old grease come out of the boot(rubber enclosure) on the fitting. Once you see that you are done. Go on boy, you can do it! Don't pay no bottom feeding, no education having guy to do it. Hey use your phd. in my case my Junior College diploma, Ha!ha!

[PUNISHER]

  i do my own lube jobs about every two-three oil changes.  that's about 6,000-9,000 miles.  just try not to overfill the boot with too much grease if you decide to do it yourself.  i can't seem to find my notes, but i believe there are 11 or 12 zerks you need to lube.  i do know where to look for them under the vehicle though.
 someone please give him the correct number.  do a search and you can find an illustration as well.

[PUNISHER]

  there are 11 zerks.

Upper ball joints- 2
Lower ball joints- 2
Tie rod                -4
Steering arm      - 1
Idler arm            - 2

  if you look

[Mdz66]

Hey guys.   I used to work at one of those quick lube places, you don't want to take your Av there.  Most of those knuckleheads blow the grease bellows as most use air-grease guns and don't bother with the tough to get at zerks (time is money)   The quality of the grease is questionable at best.   I lube my  Av and rotate tires  every other oil change. Tires off make balljoints and outter tie-rods easier to get at and don't forget to wipe off excess grease, as you don't want that on the inside of your wheels.     I like my Av CLEAN!!!!!!!

[PUNISHER]

  sorry guy.  as i was saying, if you look on page 8 of maintenance and care you will see "Anybody lube...".  you will find pic's here.

[NJAV]

This is good fyi's ...considering that I only take the Av in for service since it is still under warranty...I want to start doing this myself....after the 36,000k mark....

Right now I'm getting it done every other change like stated above....

[Michiana Bubba]

I've been maintaining my Av for over a year now, doing my own Lube and Oil Changes. I also do my '96 Silverado. I use an Air Grease Gun. I made sure it only pumped as much grease as a manual. I also make sure I don't blow the seals. Once you see grease coming out it's too late, you've already compromised the integrity of the linkage. Be careful. I think that a lube job is only needed every 6K. I change my oil ever 3K, I want my engine to last a life time (Half a million miles should do). I don't know if anyone else has this problem but I find that my idler arm grease points get very low between oil changes, I mean you can squeeze them and feel the rod beneath. Has anyone had a problem with the transmission leaking out the back seal by the yoke? I had a bad seal.

[djfcars]

Just as a little tip to all this stuff guys, don't forget BEFORE you put the grease gun tube on the fitting to wipe the fitting clean so you do not pump in dirt as you lube her up.

Its trivial but take no chances!

[THEOFILOS2002]

I have to add something here, and yes I am being picky:  the owner's manual requires the use of NLGI Cat. 2 GC-LB rated grease.  Coastal, a company that markets grease through various autoparts stores, labels their product NLGI Cat. 2 without the GC-LB mark. The product is not certified by NLGI is any way.  NLGI has a long list of products that are certified - Check it out.

Go to http://http://www.nlgi.org/certification_info.htm
... for a graphic of what the certification mark looks like.

For more general info go to:  http://www.nlgi.org

This, I am told by NLGI, is completely meaningless.  They can leagally place "NLGI Cat. 2" text in th container, as long as they do not place the certification mark on the container.  Pretty misleading huh?!  Pretty damn unethical!!

Here is THUMBS DOWN for Coastal grease products!!!

Again, I know I am being picky, but if you want top quality maintenance products for your wiz-bang AV, get what the Chevy requires, and stay away uncertified products.

I bought three 3oz tube of the Coastal grease and ended up researching what this NLGI designation means by going to their webpage.  When I found out that NLGI didn't certify Coastal I returned the tubes.  I told the autoparts person that the product is not rated by NLGI.  

He stated, "what do you think they use when you take your car in for maintenance?".  

I said, "I don't - I do all maintenance myself."

I must assume the dealer uses maintenance products that recommneded by the owner's manual, but your average garage down the street - BIG QUESTION!!

Anyway, I hope this help all you AV junkies!

[TXAVy]

I also make sure I don't blow the seals. Once you see grease coming out it's too late, you've already compromised the integrity of the linkage. Be careful.

So how do you know when there's "enough" grease in there if seeing some squeeze out means you've already gone too far?

[POW]

heres my opinion , being a millwright for 20 yrs, this is what i have learned...
 -there are many types of grease, however , generally you will find 3 types -general purpose greasewhich is good generally, but not always
                                -ep1(extreme pressure 1)generally used for things like low speed rotating shafts or moving linear bearings and the like
                                 -ep2(you get the idea)generally used for surface contact with a low degree of movement and higher loads
 ep2 would be my choice for chasis lubrication


                                                   pow

[PUNISHER]

  as far as knowing when there is enough grease...everyone has their own opinion.  here is mine.  i usually give it about 2 to 3 pumps on the handle.  this should suffice since i do it every 3000mi.
  you do not want to put too much.  you could ruin the boot/seal around the pivoting joint.  i just watch as i pump.  once i see the boot expanding i just "eyeball it" from there.
  anyone have a problem getting to the zerk on the passenger side.  it is pointing up.  i believe this one is the pittman arm.  you have to turn the wheels to gain clearance.  kinda hard when you are using ramps.

[Murman]

I did a LO&F today. 2,987 miles/162 hours, this was the second oil change and first chassis lube.  10 of 11 zerks were easy to get to, but the 11th was some what tough.  However, it was lubricated.

I used Castrol GTX 10w-30 and a Fram Extra guard filter.  I almost forgot to reset the oil change monitor.

Aloha,
Murman

[marc_w]

I do my own greasing...

It's a serious PITA, but I do it evey oil change.

I lost the ball joints on my last two Chevy's (S10's) way too early, so I'm extra carefull with the Av.

Depending on what joint I'm lubing, I put in between 2 and 15+ pumps of my manual, full size grease gun.

I typically put enough grease in to see the rubber seals expand, and fill until 'plump', not firm... The ball joints get around 6, the tie-rod ends, if anything, get 2-5...  

The rest of the non-rubber-sealed joints (idler arm and what not), all get as many as needed to force grease out the other end of things.

Anyone else doing anything similar?

The ones that really stress me out are the ball joints.  I had weak seals on the MOOG ones I had on my Blazer.  They leaked VERY easy.  I may have even forced a little grease out of the stockers I have on the Av, on accident.  I honestly forget.  

What's the story with this now - are the seals bad?  Do they need to be re-seated or something?

[sjudson]

Murman71 if you are using Fram for oil filters you might want to use Fram Tough Guard,the one you are using now is the same as Fram's low cost orange one.There was a big write up on this subject on this site.I agree with you that if all possible-DO IT YOURSELF

[SICKWIDIT]

does anyone have pics? so it could be a little easier to understand what everyone is talking about

[LORD VADER]

Pics are posted somewhere on this site.  Just do a search for those posts.

[Johnny_D]

  anyone have a problem getting to the zerk on the passenger side.  it is pointing up.  i believe this one is the pittman arm.  you have to turn the wheels to gain clearance.  kinda hard when you are using ramps.

I have not been able to get my gun on this zerk as the AC sits on top of it. I'll try cutting the wheel to access it, thanks for the tip.

[PUNISHER]

  i usually do that one last.  i pull the truck off the ramps and crawl underneath.  with the wheels turned it makes it alot easier.

[11H]

Hey guys,,,

On my 2000 Silverado Z-71, there was a ZERK on the steering box... I only saw it when I had the grille shell out... Otherwise I would not be able to see it... I greased it... OOPS! After that, over the next 15,000 or so miles, my steering kept getting sloppier...

I took it in to fav dealer, and my bud smiled really wide, and told me it wasn't supposed to take chassis lube... He made a joke about it, and replaced the box with a sealed type... I guess it's hit or miss whether it may have a ZERK, but it wasn't ever supposed to get one he says...

He also said I wasn't the only one to do it... Other techs hit them as well... I guess they come well lubed from the factory, and don't need service... He looked up the part # for the recommended grease, and I don't remember it this late in the game...

I just bring this up to you all for warning... The one on the pitman type arm/arms is ok though... LOL

11H

[chrisntam]

While lubing the chassis of my Z-66, I ran into a bit of a problem.  After hitting the 11th zert (upper idler arm) I  pulled the coupler off and the zert pulled out of the idler arm.     Yeah, I'm looking at the end of the grease gun and the zert is stuck in it.    Freaking unbelievable.  I get the zert out of the coupler, look at the threads and they are slightly stripped.  I would hate to know what the threads in the aluminum idler housing look like.  I bought another zert and installed it and hope it won't pull out like the last one.

Anyone had a similar problem?  I'm thinking of talking to the dealer and letting them know that if I have the same problem next time, they're gonna replace the idler arm under warranty.

Any opinions?

[jst4f]

 This thread is just another example of how great this site is!!  I needed to have my alignment checked after a few rough hits during offroading, so I asked my alignment guy to also lub the chasis.  Before I took it in, I searched this site and found this and few other threads on zerk location and how hard it was to find the 11th zerk.  I even cut/pasted a note together and took it with me.  His initial reaction to the note was a mixture of humor and resentment, "been doing this for many years.."  But he accepted the note.  When I picked up my AV, he thanked me for the note and agreed that the 11th zerk is very easy to miss and he opined that he would have stoped at 10 zerked if not for my note.  He asked to keep the note.  
My thanks to one and all who contributed to this thread and all the other threads on this site.  Great job!!

Text of my note.

Found all 11 zerks.
 
Upper ball joints      (2)*
Lower ball joints      (2)*
Center link            (2)
Tie rods            (2)*
Pitman arm            (1)  (The arm on the driver's side.)
Idler arm            (2)  (The one on the passenger side right in front of the
                       AC.)  
 
The 11th zerk is on top of the ider arm. If you look right in front of the AC you will see what I am talking about. The ider arm has 2 of them. One on top and one on the bottom.  They are hard to get at and both should to be changed to 6 mm 90o zerks.  “I now see the 2nd zerk on the idler arm coming out the side of the arm and it points toward the driver's side.  This one is easy to miss.”

The one on top of the Pitman arm is also just too tight with a std. grease gun (even with a flex hose). That's why I changed it to a 6 mm 90o zerk.

All the others can be done with a grease gun and a flex hose.
 
----------------------

* “Tires off make balljoints and outter tie-rods easier to get at.”

[brirun95]

Ok, I believe I screwed up.  While greasing what I believe to be the ball joints, being o-so careful, at about the third pump, I noticed a little bit of grease ooze out from the seal.  Granted, I am pretty new at this, but where the grease oozed from was from the base of a cylindrical type seal towards the top of the wheel assembly.  I didn't think I would run into trouble on the third pump!    

So. . . did I screw up?  And, if I did, what is the urgency in getting this seal repaired.

Thanks all!