Lubed the Bravada last night

[GunsOfNavarone]

Lubed the Bravada last night, along with changing the oil. I was not trying to save $20 by doing it myself, and I find turning in the old oil a pain. I did it myself so I could do the lube.

A few notes- IMHO, you have to lift the front end and remove the tires to get to 6 of the lube points, 4 of which are ball joints. I have read that to properly fill the ball joint grease points the tires must be off, and I will add that you really cant get to both the top and bottom joints without lifting the vehicle. Next I discovered that 2 more points near the ball joints need to be greased and it not only requires the tires off, but required the steering wheel to be turned all the way to the left to get to the grease fittings. On the passenger side this fitting is to the rear, on the driver side this fitting is to the front, so you only have to turn the wheel to the left to get to both sides. I could not get my gun on 2 fittings because I didn't have a angle grease fitting for my gun, and there was not enough clearance for my gun. I will be at the auto parts store to find a 90 degree fitting for my gun.

Bottom line- one can't count on a quikie lube or even a dealer to lube the high failure grease points on the Bravada (upper and lower ball joints). One should consider doing it themselves every 6 months.

I wonder if the high failure rate of the Bravada ball joints has to do with the grease fittings being hard to access- and if one always keeps these points well lubed if the ball joint problems go away?

[MagicRat]

Good point. Proper greasing of fittings is often overlooked by most oil change guys. Imho the only way to get it right is to do it yourself, because the oil change guys don't seem to bother to even look for them.

Back when my dad had a Bonneville, I always had to tell the oil change guys to grease the fittings on the rear suspension (as well as the front).
They would look at the rear end in stunned amazement, as if they had never seen grease fittings on rear suspension... and these guys are professionals?

[duke350]

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

[ericn1300]

Good call gunner, seems the grease monkeys at the quikie lubes haven't figured out what the grease gun is for.

The other lube points they ignore are the body parts. Don't forget to lube all the hinges: hatch back, hood and most importantly the door hinge pins and stays. Sagging, hard to close doors are a common problem on the Bravada and can be prevented by lubing them regularly. I use a light oil like 3in1 for the hinges, a little white grease on the door striker posts and a silicon spray into the door latches. Never use oil or silicon in the key locks or it will collect dirt and wear out faster, just a little graphite lube every couple of years.