Flex lines for greasing ball joints. Crazy yes, but would it work/help?

[404]

So with my recent healthy and completely natural interest in invigorated and long life balls, I see many pictures of failed ball joints and they all look COMPLETELY GREASE FREE.


Obviously a lot of work to get to grease fittings, plus IMO there is always some water contaminated grease and dirt inside the Zerk end and this will get pumped into the joint.


What if a long flexible grease line, like is used for a grease gun, was run from each ball joint to a place under the hood. These would be permanently installed.


The joints could be easily greased every week if desired, and I assume would last a lot longer.


The flexible line allows for suspension movement.


All replies and comment welcome, as always.


Thank you,
Regards,
404

 

[smiffy]

Quite common on machinery called remote grease points all the kit to do it is readily available
could even install autolube if u wanted and it would do it at preset times
valve blocks are also available so that one grease fitting would grease all the ball joints and the blocks can alter what percentage of each pump from the grease gun goes to which grease point
But there is a reason this isnt done and its cost
they are perfectly capable of building cars that would last a million miles without being touched or even serviced but they would be prohibitively expensive

 

[sparkplug1939]

Peterbilt trucks have an option for that !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ChevyEFI]

As an example, I've heard the GM S/T 4x4 truck balljoints as difficult to grease many times.

Personally, I think it's due to laziness or lack of foresight in installing a properly accessible (angled or direction) zerk.

My take on the hose thing is it's an additional failure point. Think of how long people allow torn (balljoint, CV, etc.) boots. By introducing this hose, you're adding a failure point.

Would I add them to a dirt-used vehicle that warranted weekly greasing (not unlike some of the references in the recent "Do Farmers just like grease?" thread) if it saved time? Sure. But with only a few zerks per vehicle, it's not going to do much in that dept.

 

[Techie1961]

Cool idea and like Smiffy says, everything is available to do it. They aren't hoses like you see on a grease gun but instead small diameter poly tube that I have seen. You won't see it on cars any time soon though. They don't even put grease zerks on anymore.

 

[YupIllFixItLater]

I regularly install and replace these on earth moving equipment and trucks at work. We have the Lincoln Quicklub pumps mounted on a few of the excavators and on a asphalt paver.

All you need are ******* that fit instead of the zerk, highpressure hoses and then you just route the hoses to a distribution block or a single zerk placed in a easier to reach location.

Being able to grease a bunch of greasepoints from one easily accessible place is great, but just filling the pump reservoir once in a while is awesome.

I get my stuff from a local place sells filtration systems and filters, lubrication stuff, Bosch services and batteries. There is central-grease and remote-grease stuff available that can do way more than you'll ever think of.

This online shop seems good. http://www.remotegreaselines.com/

 

[FunkyfullWidth]

A lot of 4x4 ball joints you cannot grease with out taking out the axle shafts. U-joints are in the way. But depending on what you have, it's always possible, although would probably be expensive. grease guns are capable of putting out a lot of pressure and the hoses would have to be rated to handle such. On the other hand, most grease fittings out there are not high pressure grease fittings. A lot of machinery uses high pressure grease fittings so that with high heat it isn't forced past the ball. However, I doubt ball joints see anywhere near that pressure.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

The grease fitting is usually pretty easy to access with the tire removed. I just give them 2 shots of grease when I rotate the tires. That's a gracious plenty.

And wipe the fitting off before attaching the grease gun. The tiny little speck of dirt that is still bound to get pushed into the ball joint is not going to hurt it a bit. It's a ball joint, not a Swiss watch.

But, yeah, if you're running out of stuff to worry about, a flex line and tubing run to a remote grease point would be possible. We've got them all over the place in the plant where I work.

 

[kd3pc]

some older cars, now antique, had grease cups that fed a fitting or two and you would just twist the top down a half turn or so, couple times a year. Fill the cups as needed.

Now, according to many parts sheets, the bearing, joint, knuckle, U is permanently "greased" - no provision to do so.

 

[WJD]

Put all the fancy easy greasing gizmo's on anything its still up to the warm bodied gomer pile driving/operating /owning the thing to make sure it still gets the grease....in my experiences anyhow.

I work with one of them types that is blessed with the ignorance of thinking missing zerks for weeks is noth'n to fret about, and they also think greasing all the daily required zerks is purely optional. If the zerk is not completely easy to get at, forget that joint EVER getting grease at all.

Good help anymore is a rare find indeed

 

[bwringer]

Before cart horse the...

Ball joints, tie rod ends, stabilizer links, etc. in vehicles fail because the protective boots degrade.

I don't think I've ever seen a loose joint with an intact boot.

I suppose you could keep pumping in more grease daily, but in the end it's always the boot that fails first. Grease goes out, water and dirt go in, and soon it's roached.

Central greasing makes sense in some types of applications for some types of machinery.

 

[Jure]

Quite common on machinery called remote grease points all the kit to do it is readily available
could even install autolube if u wanted and it would do it at preset times
valve blocks are also available so that one grease fitting would grease all the ball joints and the blocks can alter what percentage of each pump from the grease gun goes to which grease point
But there is a reason this isnt done and its cost
they are perfectly capable of building cars that would last a million miles without being touched or even serviced but they would be prohibitively expensive

 

[montanafordman]

I just did some work on my truck (replaced exhaust manifolds through the wheel wells) and while my wheels were off and I was under there I noticed that my ball joints and tie rod ends didn't look like they had been greased in quite a while. I usually take my truck in for oil changes these days because I'm too busy/lazy to do it myself. I rebuilt the whole front end on my truck a while back and replaced my ball joints and tie rod ends with MOOG "problem solver" suspension parts. The problem is that the factory parts were all sealed and not able to be greased. Well, the new problem is that the guys doing lube jobs are too lazy to look for, or grease zerks under the vehicle so they don't get greased anyway! I usually even try to mention that I'd like all the suspension parts greased (and that they all have zerks)

 

[RedneckWelder]

The ball joints are very easy to get to on my truck, it's the other stuff that isn't. One fitting in particular is horrible to get to. I try to grease all points every time I change my oil.

 

[yhprum]

Many of the permanently grease parts still have the pad where the grease fitting goes!

If you are careful, it is possible to drill and tap it for a grease fitting.

Also you can get rubber or plastic grease fitting caps if you are worried about dirt or water entry.

 

[chris142]

. Well, the new problem is that the guys doing lube jobs are too lazy to look for, or grease zerks under the vehicle so they don't get greased anyway! I usually even try to mention that I'd like all the suspension parts greased (and that they all have zerks)

Or their grease gun has been empty for years if they even own one.

 

[efb16acrx]

If you are smart and put the proper fitting on and point it the right direction, you shouldn't have any problems with the ball joints. But I do know that moog ships a hose with their gm idler arms because they are a pain in the *** to get to if you dont have electric fans.

 

[AA/FC]

Many of the permanently grease parts still have the pad where the grease fitting goes!

If you are careful, it is possible to drill and tap it for a grease fitting.

I just did this on some ball joints a few weeks ago....

 

[justanengineer]

Many machine tools have central "one shot" oilers with metering manifolds similar to Jure's pic. Theyre great when they work like other forms of technology, but when one of the metering jets inside the manifold gets clogged it buggers things up and the operator rarely notices.

JMO, but for once-twice/year maintenance on the average daily driver a central grease system is likely more of a PITA than a time/effort saver. Admittedly, Ive also seen many folks overgrease their chassis so I might be somewhat biased.

 

[APEowner]

I seem to recall seeing that as optional equipment on some '30s luxury cars.

 

[MoparTrucks]

There is an article on doing that in the current Farm Show magazine.

 

[Squankum]

I seem to recall seeing that as optional equipment on some '30s luxury cars.

That's what I was thinking. My very fuzzy memory said, "Duesenberg"? That would be about one of the only three things I think I remember about Duesenbergs.

Also you can get rubber or plastic grease fitting caps if you are worried about dirt or water entry.

Yep. I just discovered these recently and have installed some, they're nice. There are cheaper ones.

Lumax LX-1458 Silver Rubber Grease Fitting Cap, (Pack of 5) http://amzn.com/B000MS5T4W


.

 

[goforride57]

As an example, I've heard the GM S/T 4x4 truck balljoints as difficult to grease many times.

Bottom ones are a little harder to get to, but, can be done. However, these trucks were a piss poor design and you could grease them everyday, and they still would wear out.

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

Most of the new equipment coming through the shop comes from factory with remote grease manifolds. And the drive lines all have sealed universal joints. Operator negligance keeps me employed, and these new 'low maintnance' bearings/bushings are a real pain to service/replace. Having said that, having to use a BFH to drive a siezed cylinder pin out of a neglected excavator is over-rated. I really love seeing the auto grease systems on units.

The earlier picture of the kit pretty much sums it up. A roll of line, a pile of Male NPT/compression fittings and a manifold block. As long as you are careful when you drill and tap the holes for the fittings (so you don't fill your grease point with metal) you should be able to do it in an afternoon. The lines don't handle kinks and tight corners well. I'm sure you could sleave it in some woven loom to help with durability.

 

[smiffy]

some older cars, now antique, had grease cups that fed a fitting or two and you would just twist the top down a half turn or so, couple times a year. Fill the cups as needed.

Now, according to many parts sheets, the bearing, joint, knuckle, U is permanently "greased" - no provision to do so.

Even better than that some vintage cars and trucks had oil and grease pumps attached to the break or clutch pedals so each time the break was applied a shot of grease delivered or a squirt of oil applied this would of been around the 1930s i believe but on vehicles of that age there was a lot more grease points and the grease interval was 30 miles if the system wasnt fitted even some ww2 lorrys had to be greased every 30 miles and you wouldnt believe how complicated even the steering system was as it was before sealants got really good so was easier for any oil filled components to be kept as far away from water as possible

 

[damienga15de]

Get the pre greased lines, saves a lot of pumping

 

[nanan00]

I design control systems for refineries and we often sell a centrally located lubrication manifold to hit all the hard to get to lube points. We also offer an automated lubrication system that you hook up to tubes, buckets, or barrels of grease that is triggered before system actuation.

Most of what we do is hard lined but we do use flex line for moving equipment, typically PFTE tube with stainless braided jacketing.

 

[sberry]

This is a fuggin car.

 

[Stuart in MN]

The central lubrication systems used on vintage luxury cars were made by Bijur. They're still around, but I think their products are mainly used on machine tools these days.

 

[defektes]

Probably wouldn't work with copper, but that is what we use at work for greasing bearings, gates, etc that is hard to get too.

One thing with a ball joint is people will become overzealous with it, a balljoint should only occasionally get a few pumps. If over greased it will tear the boot (unless it has the slip on boots) or grease can contaminate critical parts like brake discs. Regular joe blow is gonna go and dump a 1/4 tube into each zerk and that can cause plenty of problems in itself.

Secondly getting down on the ground allows you to check, spot, and repair problems before they become really bad. In the hands of a competent person can be useful, for the average idiot, no. That is why most OEM balljoints are sealed. I still drill and install a zerk regardless.

 

[redwrench60]

The MOOG Problem solver idler arm assembly I have on my Silverado has an extension hose with remote mount grease fitting accessible in the wheel well area. The factory fitting is often overlooked and hard to get to. I thought it was a neat idea.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

The MOOG Problem solver idler arm assembly I have on my Silverado has an extension hose with remote mount grease fitting accessible in the wheel well area. The factory fitting is often overlooked and hard to get to. I thought it was a neat idea.

yeah, that thing is nearly impossible to get to

 

[RM209]

I seem to recall seeing that as optional equipment on some '30s luxury cars.

The Morgan sports cars had a "one-shot" front suspension lubrication system for many years. The king pins were plumbed to a valve inside the cabin that was connected to an oil line to the engine. The driver would periodically depress the foot valve, and engine oil would lube the knigpins.

http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/plus4/

RM209

 

[ChevyEFI]

Bottom ones are a little harder to get to, but, can be done. However, these trucks were a piss poor design and you could grease them everyday, and they still would wear out.

My F-in-L kept one greased from new and while the rubber bushings in the upper a-arms were junk, all 4 balljoints were fine at 150,000.

There is a LOT of non-original-owner feedback out there muddying the waters, IMO. YMMV.

However, I also think those trucks esp. in the 90s, had a lot of parts that were supplied by the lowest bidder. Distributors that wore out bushings (vs. V8 ones I put 200,000+ on) and other stuff. So maybe some of them got **** balljoints. I don't think the 94s did.

 

[pepi]

At one time an oil change included a grease job. I change my own oil, rotate the tires and grease the front end. The dance I do every oil change.

Those quickie lubes leave out half of the periodic maintenance.

 

[pepi]

That's what I was thinking. My very fuzzy memory said, "Duesenberg"? That would be about one of the only three things I think I remember about Duesenbergs.



Yep. I just discovered these recently and have installed some, they're nice. There are cheaper ones.

Lumax LX-1458 Silver Rubber Grease Fitting Cap, (Pack of 5) http://amzn.com/B000MS5T4W


.

Instead of chasing some little rubber and slippery cap around. Here is a suggestion, wipe the fitting off before you grease it.

 

[joseph.a.owens.9]

A lot of stuff on these new cars are ungrease able

 

[Mechanical Noise]

What if a long flexible grease line, like is used for a grease gun, was run from each ball joint to a place under the hood. These would be permanently installed.

I think a kit like that was sold in the JC Whitney catalog back in the 70s.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

The central lubrication systems used on vintage luxury cars were made by Bijur. They're still around, but I think their products are mainly used on machine tools these days.

It's my guess that the automatic greasing schemes went away with the introduction of lithium greases. The old stuff washed away alot easier.

 

[404]

Thank you all for your replies. How does one drill and ?tap? a zerk hole without getting metal into the joint?