Greasing the front end

[JoshBarber]

is there a way to grease the ball joints and everything else up front?

[97blazermadness]

I have found this thread to be helpful:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=344505

[Rick Norwood]

Originally Posted by JoshBarber

is there a way to grease the ball joints and everything else up front?

You can grease anything if there is a grease fitting on it.

If your willing to spend the money to invest in a grease gun and a tube of grease, be sure to get one with the rubber hose tip instead of the solid steel tube tip. Then it is a simple matter of wiping the dirt away from each fitting, attaching the tip to the fitting and pump the handle until you see the grease ooze out of the fitting.

Have you bought a Chilton or Haynes Manual for your Truck yet?

[JoshBarber]

Originally Posted by Rick Norwood

You can grease anything if there is a grease fitting on it.

If your willing to spend the money to invest in a grease gun and a tube of grease, be sure to get one with the rubber hose tip instead of the solid steel tube tip. Then it is a simple matter of wiping the dirt away from each fitting, attaching the tip to the fitting and pump the handle until you see the grease ooze out of the fitting.

Have you bought a Chilton or Haynes Manual for your Truck yet?

Thank you both. That photo should help a lot!
Not sure if my ball joints have been replaced or not, so I don't know yet if they have fittings, I'll check.
Yes, I have a Haynes book for the car.

[blazee]

DON'T GREASE THEM UNTIL GREASE COMES OUT!
You grease them until the rubber boot is firm to the touch. If you over grease them this boot will burst, this will allow dirt to get in the joint and wear it out.

I use two mini grease guns. One has a hose with a straight end, and the other has a 90 degree end for getting in the tight places like the idler arm (skids plates get in the way) and the inner tie rod ends (driveaxles get in the way)

[Rick Norwood]

Originally Posted by JoshBarber

Thank you both. That photo should help a lot!
Not sure if my ball joints have been replaced or not, so I don't know yet if they have fittings, I'll check.
Yes, I have a Haynes book for the car.

OOOOOOOOUCH! I stand corrected!

[Rick Norwood]

Originally Posted by blazee

DON'T GREASE THEM UNTIL GREASE COMES OUT!
You grease them until the rubber boot is firm to the touch. If you over grease them this boot will burst, this will allow dirt to get in the joint and wear it out.

I use two mini grease guns. One has a hose with a straight end, and the other has a 90 degree end for getting in the tight places like the idler arm (skids plates get in the way) and the inner tie rod ends (driveaxles get in the way)

I'll try this again, this time I'll try to respond to the right one.


OOOOOOCH! I stand Corrected!

[blazee]

Originally Posted by Rick Norwood

I'll try this again, this time I'll try to respond to the right one.


OOOOOOCH! I stand Corrected!

Just so you know... if the grease gun is connected properly to the grease fitting it won't come out. You can pump a whole tube of grease in there. It will bust the boot and run out on the ground, and never leak at the fitting.

[mike2004tct]

Originally Posted by JoshBarber

Not sure if my ball joints have been replaced or not, so I don't know yet if they have fittings, I'll check.
Yes, I have a Haynes book for the car.

The truck should have come from the factory with fittings on the ball joints.

The ball joints are the original units if they are riveted on.
If they have been replaced, they will be bolted on.

[JoshBarber]

Originally Posted by mike2004tct

The truck should have come from the factory with fittings on the ball joints.

The ball joints are the original units if they are riveted on.
If they have been replaced, they will be bolted on.

all the other posts at that link say that a vehicle with stock ball joints cant be lubed, only replaced. is this incorrect?

[Sunliner]

Don't know about the newer ones but my '97 Blazer has fittings on the ball joints & they're the original ones.

[mike2004tct]

Originally Posted by Sunliner

Don't know about the newer ones but my '97 Blazer has fittings on the ball joints & they're the original ones.

I'm not sure about the '98 either, I also have a '97 that came with the fittings, perhaps I mis-spoke in the above post. Regardless, the original ball joints will be riveted on, replacement ball joints will be bolted on and WILL have fittings.

Perhaps Chevy in it's ultimate bottom line wisdom decided to decontent the fittings on the '98s and save $0.50 per truck.

[blazee]

My 98 has the fittings. The Haynes Manual says that some Vehicles came with plugs instead of fittings...I don't know which ones though.

[JoshBarber]

Originally Posted by blazee

DON'T GREASE THEM UNTIL GREASE COMES OUT!
You grease them until the rubber boot is firm to the touch. If you over grease them this boot will burst, this will allow dirt to get in the joint and wear it out.

I use two mini grease guns. One has a hose with a straight end, and the other has a 90 degree end for getting in the tight places like the idler arm (skids plates get in the way) and the inner tie rod ends (driveaxles get in the way)

how screwed am I if on a couple of the boots, grease squeazed out? I felt the boots as I pumped the grease, and only did one or two pumps on the grease gun, but a couple still squeezed some out. Probably just a pin hole or something, but should I be really worried?

[blazee]

Did the boot bust or did it just come out around the end of it? As long as you didn't split the boot wide open you should be fine.