Someone teach me how to zerk.

Sub...

I am looking to do this for the first time myself. I bet it is some nasty shit in there since I have yet to do this since getting the truck. 5 fittings right? on the driveshaft? Are there any elsewhere that would need grease? Any reccomendations on grease and grease guns?

 

Three on the main shaft, two on a secondary shaft near the driverside floor.

Grease gun recommendations? Air powered. Lol! Any will do the job

 

None on the chassis or other suspension parts? Or are the rest "non servicable"?

 

I believe the amount of zerks depends on the truck. I have a 2013 Off Road 4x4; I have 5. Grease gun is nothing fancy. I think I dropped 20ish dollars on one. I chose Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease all the way around. Some say NLGI 1 for the front and NLGI 2 for the remaining. Mobil is NLGI 2 and I used it on the fronts and rears.

As for any other grease ports, I am not really sure. I heard the ball joints could use a fillin', but I didn't find a zerk. Anyone have any insight on this?

 

Pretty sure there are only zerks on the drive shaft, no suspension parts unless they are aftermarket.

 

Sealed ball joints , tie rod ends and universal joints are designed this way to keep the joints from contamination . They are designed for the life of the vehicle which most auto manuafacturers use 50,000 miles as lifetime . Some guys drill polypropelyne joints out and install a grease fitting to lube the polypropelyne joint which defeats the purpose of the sealed joint . If these joints make noise or become dry , change them out for a serviceable joint with a grease zerk ( NIPPLE )

 

The old grease should be purged out. Water does get into the joint regardless of the seals. That is what causes the premature failure when they are not greased on a regular basis. Esp in wetter areas.

 

That was funny as hell

 

I didn't hear them called zerks before I came to the forum though, before then I was greasing my nipples till I saw the ooze

 

Thank you for threads like these! I finally went out and got a grease gun and grease. Seeing all that black goo ooze out made me feel sad for my truck. If I had known this was so easy I would've been doing it myself a long time ago.

I think I'll also be on the lookout for a creeper. Sliding around my garage floor on a cardboard box wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be...

 

A good Low profile creeper = worth EVERY f*cking penny.

 

Looks like I need to purge my zerks until the ooze black goo. I will have to pump slowly until they do.

 

Not sure if it was mentioned but I know with farm machinery, if you put too much you can actually blow out the seals. I've always listened and felt carefully, you can usually tell when it's "full".

 

I'm 52 and they've been known as 'zerks' for as long as I can remember...

 

Yea Yea!... LOL

 

+1
This is the best advice on this entire thread.
1. When you grease a fitting you need to get all the old grease out. Pump till you see clean new grease.

2. Once you are done clean off the excess.

Yes, it's messy but it's the best way to ensure all the dirt, water and old grease is out of the joint.

 

Ok, crawled under today, found one zerk up front, one in the middle and one in the rear. Took light and could neither see or feel any others. Where are the other two?

2014DCSB

The Zerk up front was super clean, no grease on outside on Zerk at all. After filling hose of gun took six pumps. I stopped once I felt the pressure on the handle.

The Zerk in the middle and in the rear each had grease on them and took three pumps of grease.

 

They are at every U-Joint. Look/feel harder.