Grease Gun - Which one?

Started by Gobi King, July 15, 2019, 02:06:41 PM

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Gobi King

I need to lube the frontend of my chevy 3/4 ton truck,

So I went and bought a napa grease gun made by Lumax, well after I bought it and brought it home and loaded it up with a

Shaeffer's 248 grease tube, I read on amazon that they have POS grease couplers which gets stuck on the zerk, (FYI amazon has these grease guns for $13 vs $19 at napa).

Which power coupler would you guys suggest?

How is this one?
https://locknlube.com/collections/locknlube-grease-coupler/products/locknlube-grease-coupler

I will need a 90 degree adapter too.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

Crow

    Well, Shibs....I guess, after almost 50 years in the "mechanic " trade, I must have greased a few million zerks, and I've never used a 'lock on" coupler !? The "standard" ones (that type that comes with the gun) have always worked  for me...if they "wear" enough that the grease "seeps out" when in use, it means you either need a new coupler...or a new zerk. I'll admit that , sometimes, if you're using a flexible hose, instead of the "pipe" on the gun, and have a "lever" gun, instead of the "pistol grip", you might wish you had another hand (or two !) to hold the gun, run the lever, and keep the coupler lined up with the zerk...in those cases, maybe some sort of "lock on" coupler would be nice.
There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

RowdyW

All tips on a grease gun lock on as long as they are on straight. A slight tilt of the tip releases it from the zirk fitting. That's what keeps it on the fitting when you are pumping the grease gun.       Rudy

Gobi King

Crow, Rudy,
Thanks guys, I was pretty nervous as I have the worst luck in working on this truck. It took a few wiggles and pop off it came off without any drama, phew!

Drum Roll, I was able to find 4 zerks quicks and gave each 2 full squeeze of the handle. Those is 18 inches long an the gun lay on the ground as I grease the zerks.

Now the I need to find the remaining 7 zerks,

The truck has been sitting for 1.5 years so it has not seen any grease in a while.

I have to take off the front shield to reach a few of them.

FYI: I just used a piece of cardboard to lie down and stick my body under the truck.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

Crow

Just make sure the tip of the zerk is nice and clean...wipe it off with a gag, and use some solvent, if the old grease / dirt is really stuck on. On most of the grease couplers, you can, if you want "loosen" the screw joint, where the coupler "screws together"....don't go more than, maybe 1/2 turn, or it will come completely apart, and all the "guts" will come out !....what this does is reduce the spring pressure on the internal clamps, that hold the coupler to the ball end of the zerk...it will go on, and come off, easier. You should be fine "as-is" , though, with a clean zerk. A wise old man once told me the "cheapest parts you can buy, are grease, and oil, and those will do wonders ! "
There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

RowdyW

Gobi, all fittings should be accessable without removeing any shields. You can't grease the upper ball joints with the gun on the ground.

Gobi King


I took paper towels along and clean the zerks pretty good, but I think some had "stuff" in the zerk hole.

Is it ok to spray some brake cleaner into the zerk hole to clean it up?

I bought some cool zerk caps, I will put them on after I am done.

ok, I figured I am not reaching the upper ball joints from the ground as they point upwards, I will turn the tire all the way out.

Here are the grease points, can't see a few of them yet.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27940721/print/true.cfm

How much grease? Check boot tightness before I start pumping and then check again after a couple of pumps till boot is somewhat tight?



Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

RowdyW

Just don't blow out the boot on the ball joints, they can't be repaired except to install new ball joints. If the grease leaks out they will just have to be greased more often. The other fittings have a rubber cup on them and you can push grease into them until you see it starting to weep out.

PacRat

The Lock n Lube with a flex hose looks useful. Let us know how it works out if you do get one. It's wise to swap out to 90 degree fittings if it makes life easier for you (I do this because I keep my cars forever). Also don't be surprised if some components do not have grease fittings at all. They like to  say that you don't need to grease them anymore. Whenever I replace a component I make certain that the new parts have grease fittings. My wife's 99 Grand Cherokee only had fittings on half the components so I made certain the new parts had grease fittings so they would last longer.
-Mike

Gobi King

I will skip the power coupler for now, the one that came with the box worked fine.

Yeah, 90 degree seems the way to go for the one on top of the idler arm.

I have not gone out to look as it is 400F outside and I have a black top driveway.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

Crow

Yeah, the last few days it's been hotter, here,  than it has been on Dauphin Island...and just as humid !!
There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

Gobi King

Yeah, I was in shock when I saw it was warmer here in West MI than in Mobile, AL.

You say Humidity, yeah, I have been looking at the hygro, and we are at 75% at 6 am. Good Fishing weather I guess, if you are a bass guy.

It is drizzling now, I will wait to give the truck a quick wash (long over due) and clean the zerks for the epic grease event!
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

foakes

If this truck were mine, this would be my approach —

Knowing that many vehicles today, and over the last 30 years — have less "zerk" fittings than I would consider are needed.  Plus, many vehicles today have "permanently greased" joints and friction points — supposedly.

This is all good, if you are the average driver who expects to get another vehicle every 5-6 years.

If you are like me, and many others on this site — I would like to see my my vehicle last 350K to 400K — then put in a new engine, if necessary — for about what the tax and license would run on a new vehicle.

So back to the lube stuff —

First, take your truck to an old fashioned under-seal shop.  Pay them to put it on the rack, then pressure wash the undercarriage.  This is a messy job to do right.  $50 is worth it, for me.

Second, find a good independent repair shop that does a lot of lubes.  NOT a dealership — NOT a Lube-n-Go.  Let them know that you want to know the location of every zerk — and if a part does not have a zerk, have them install one if possible.  This is easy and cheap.  Then they need to allow you to see the location of all zerks — take photos — and make up a lube notebook with appropriate intervals and location information.  A repair shop of integrity will appreciate your approach.

Third, now that you are knowledgeable — you can do this yourself, if you wish — it is a good source of confidence and satisfaction to know your vehicle is at its best — and you know where things are that matter.

Just my opinions.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

Crow

There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

Gobi King

Quote from: foakes on July 16, 2019, 06:44:30 PM


If you are like me, and many others on this site — I would like to see my my vehicle last 350K to 400K — then put in a new engine, if necessary — for about what the tax and license would run on a new vehicle.

So back to the lube stuff —

First, take your truck to an old fashioned under-seal shop.  Pay them to put it on the rack, then pressure wash the undercarriage.  This is a messy job to do right.  $50 is worth it, for me.

Second, find a good independent repair shop that does a lot of lubes.  NOT a dealership — NOT a Lube-n-Go.  Let them know that you want to know the location of every zerk — and if a part does not have a zerk, have them install one if possible.  This is easy and cheap.  Then they need to allow you to see the location of all zerks — take photos — and make up a lube notebook with appropriate intervals and location information.  A repair shop of integrity will appreciate your approach.

Third, now that you are knowledgeable — you can do this yourself, if you wish — it is a good source of confidence and satisfaction to know your vehicle is at its best — and you know where things are that matter.


Fred,
I am also in the camp of keep it for ever, this is chevy duramax diesel I bought new with 200 miles on it, now it has 20k miles. but this has sat in my driveway for a long time. I plan to keep it for some time.

I swapped out the factory acdelco batteries for some fresh ones last week.

I like the under body wash idea, it has a bit of rust as I drove it in winter first couple of winters.
I have been solely visiting the dealer as it is close to my house and they have a ride back. Being a single dad and the only driver, it does pose some logistics issues of dropping off the truck for work and picking it up.

I will check if the big truck places south from me will lube it. But I am not familiar with reputable shops here in West MI, and I have had some poor experience with the quality of workmanship. So this project I choose to learn it by doing it unfortunately.

Back on the lube - I turned the wheels all the way to the right to access the upper ball joint, it was  bit rusty, I cleaned it and and lubed it. But taking off the coupler took a lot more elbow grease than usual.
Then the I poked at the lower one, it was not all the way full so I was going to add some to it.
The grease gun stopped working, what the grease, to add to the drama, my oldest came down and expressed her dismay that I am done yet and she wants to swimming.
Well then, I wrapped up my lube project and drove the tribe to the YMCA.

At the Y all I could think of was, how the grease do I access the zerk on top of the idler and lower inner ball,

90 degree attachment, I remember I picked one not so long back.

So for now, I have greased all the zerks I can attached the straight coupler to, now I need to find my 90 degree attachment for the hard to reach ones.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan