Greasing front suspension

[Leif A.]

I drive my '67 5-6000 miles per year. Change the oil & filter twice a year and grease the front suspension every 12,000 miles or two years. Did all this yesterday and when I was done I had a question. When greasing the front end, I have always put between four-six squeezes of the grease gun handle worth of grease in each joint. Each squeeze produces about 1" of grease. I have never done more than this because I don't want to rupture the rubber seal of the joints. Question is, am I being too conservative with my greasing. What aroused my curiosity is that after six squeezes of the gun, I didn't notice any expansion of the rubber boots on the lower ball joints...should I expect some?

[Russ S.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

Yes you should but no need for a lot of expansion.

[Leif A.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

Thanx Russ. Maybe I'll give her an extra shot or two next go around...in two years

[Dick W.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

I always like to see the boots start to move.

[Leif A.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

I always like to see the boots start to move.

Noted Dick. Certainly makes good sense...just don't want to break them away from their seats. As a very young man, working in a service station, I would grease the joints until grease came oozing out of the boots...and in my mind at the time, that was just right...WRONG!!

[Michael J.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

Noted Dick. Certainly makes good sense...just don't want to break them away from their seats. As a very young man, working in a service station, I would grease the joints until grease came oozing out of the boots...and in my mind at the time, that was just right...WRONG!!

That's exactly what I was thinking, as I did the same thing as a teenage grease monkey at a garage. The owner said for us to grease 'em up until the grease ran out someplace, then we knew they were "full", and carried a rag in your back pocket to wipe away the excess grease......the good old days of the early '60s.......

[Mark E.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

What goes in must come out.

After repeated lubrication, sooner or later the ball joint dust boot is full of grease. Usually the old grease will ooze out of the bottom of the boot. But if the base of the boot is fused from age, dirt and heat, grease may not be able to pass. This can cause the boot to pump up and rupture during lubrication.

If I see a boot swell during lubrication, I use a small probe to carefully pull the base of the boot open a bit. This safely releases air and old grease.

Don't use air powered grease guns; they pump up the joint too quickly which may cause rupture.

And only hand grease in warm weather so the boots are flexible.

[Leif A.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

Thanks for the tips Mark. I've only used hand powered grease guns and done the lube in warm weather. I'm going to pull the two lower ball joint grease fittings today and inspect to make sure they're not clogged. I pushed the small ball in on the end of the fitting but I just want to make sure the joint is getting greased. This is a fair weather car that gets driven so nothing is hard or dirty...body off frame 2008-2012.

[Mark E.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

A stuck zerk is one possible reason you didn't see the boot expand after six pumps.

Test the gun disconnected. Then grease the zerk until you see the boot expand or grease escape. If this doesn't happen, replace the zerk and try again.

Is the gun difficult to pump when attached? If the zerk doesn't pass grease the gun will quickly build pressure making the trigger hard to pull.

[Leif A.]

Re: Greasing front suspension

All's good. Removed the two lower ball joint grease fittings to be sure they were clean and functioning. Ran a small drill bit down the hole the fitting came out of to be sure there was no obstruction to the joint. Re-installed the grease fittings and attached the grease gun and began pumping. These lower ball joints took a LOT of grease. Approximately ten pulls on the grease gun and I was finally able to see the lower boots fill out. The upper ball joints and the steering linkage greased up nicely, as well. Thanks for all the tips.