Are you old enough to remember zerk fittings on your car? I am, but forgot...

I think they stopped putting zerk fittings on cars in the 80's. I remember crawling under my car with my dad's grease gun when I was younger. There was a feeling of satisfaction when I saw the grease squeezing out of the joint. I hadn't done that in so long, as an adult with modern cars, that I never gave it any thought. Even when I bought my 67 Camaro it didn't jar the memory.

Years have gone by with it and it just hit me the other day that it has zerk fittings and I've never greased them. I was astounded that it never even entered my mind. I wonder how many of you reading this are of the generation that didn't have them on your cars?

Picked this up and will be taking care of it as soon as the outside temp gets more reasonable.




For those who don't know

 

I’m going to be 40 this month.
You haven’t lived until you gotten the fitting stuck on a zerk.

Work a puzzle trying to figure out how to get on the fitting, then it won’t come off.

 

I mean my first gen has them on the drive lines still and most of my aftermarket parts do too.

 

regularly greased the driveshaft and u-joints on my 1st gen

 

Worked at an actual 'service station' in HS (71-73), so yea. FWIW I bought a new '86 S-10. Had 9 or so zerks on the front end IIRC. Sold it in 2018 with 220k+ on it. All original steering, etc, components and still tight. Grease works.

 

A few things in my garage have zerks (scag etc). Sadly my Tacoma does not.

 

Chevy had them all over the suspension until recently and it didn't stop them from falling apart

Toyota still has them on drivelines

In my opinion, greasing suspension ball joints on stock vehicles is a little outdated. If the grease is squirting out the boot then you're looking at a path for dirt and contamination to get in.. A good ball joint will be (should be) sealed up completely so the grease never leaks out and nothing ever gets in

 

It was later than the 80's, my 1992 Dodge Dynasty had zerks on the suspension components. And the MOOG replacement ball joints I put on my Crown Vic had them too.