How may put in Grease Fittings on the Ball Joints and tie Rod ends?

[Vincent Hill]

Every car I get, I drill a hole (Put grease on the drill bit and tap to keep the metal chips out)) and use a 1/8" tap and install grease fitting on the tie rods and the Ball joints then lubricate them with a Syn Molly grease. I was just wondering how many others here do this?

[Mark Mcgarry]

I did it...stops the squeaks.

[Gunter]

Not sure if I understand this.

The ball joints have grease already under the rubber shield?

I think the squeaks come from the rubber bushings in the A-arm. Yes/No?

More details, please.

[safe]

Why?
They last 10th's of thousands of miles with zero maintenance.

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by safe

Why?
They last 10th's of thousands of miles with zero maintenance.

Exactly! My 1976 had 297,000 (Which were replaced at 210,000 Miles and lasted until the car was totaled) and my 1982 911SC 125,000 miles and my 1982 BMW 320I has 245,000.

Have you ever looked at a New Tie rod Ball Joint under the Rubber cap to see exactly how much grease they have from the factory? It is very little. After 20 or 30K miles, I am sure that most has been squeezed out. A few pumps of the grease gun makes them Like NEW again. Then They can possibly last a very long time, closer to a Hundred thousand miles.

Before I started doing this the BMW (Which the tie rods are made exactly like the Turbo Tie rods are made) would last between 20,000 to 50,000 miles and be totally shot! My last set of tie rods lasted (With grease fittings) about 80,000 miles. That is 2 to 4 times longer. BTW, the streets in Washington DC are VERY Rough! Not like living in some of the south western states where between the easier weather and better economy have a lot better roads or in Europe where some places are like Billard tables.

Last, Back in the day, everything made to last all had Grease Fittings. I think they finally realized that it was cheaper to make them without the fittings and they could sell a lot more parts if they wore out sooner??

[safe]

I have 3 cars Audi 100 -92, 911 -77, 944 -86, each with around 120-140k miles on them with original ball joints. The left on the 944 are getting slightly worn. The roads here are no ballroom floors.
BMW makes crappy parts, as do most manufacturers now days. I think quality peaked in the early 90s, when quality mattered more than profit.
Wasn't around back in the days, so I have never seen a car with grease fittings, except on my PolyBronze bushings.

[Flieger]

I don't understand where you are putting the grease fitting. Are you drilling into the rubber boot? Why not just pull it back a little?

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Vincent Hill

Every car I get, I drill a hole (Put grease on the drill bit and tap to keep the metal chips out)) and use a 1/8" tap and install grease fitting on the tie rods and the Ball joints then lubricate them with a Syn Molly grease. I was just wondering how many others here do this?

Please post a picture. This would interest me.

I always liked the older cars that had grease shot into the ball joints at every service.
The suspension joints seemed to last forever in these cars.

[wildcat077]

Guys,

Here you go,i took a pic of the MOOG tie rod ends that i installed on my 89 Carrera last summer when i did the shocks.
As you can see they have a grease fitting and they come dry or with minimal grease when new.

I've been installing MOOG or TRW suspension products on all my vehicles because they have a lifetime warranty and are greasable...
For anybody interested,the part number is ES2096R,same for both sides !

On the lower picture is the OEM Porsche tie rod end .

Cheers !
Phil

[Gunter]

Thanks for the picture.

The concept makes a lot of sense.

How would you do this for the joint on the bottom of the strut?

[wildcat077]

Gunter,

All the MOOG suspension parts are greasable and come predrilled with the zerks supplied in the box.You have to lube them yourself,but then you're good to go for a long time.
If i ever have to replace my ball joints i will install MOOG greasable ball joints as well ...

I wouldn't be surprised if our local Canadian Tire stores can order these for you.I deal with a local auto parts supplier where i get a discount,but these parts are readily available !

Cheers !
Phil

[Gunter]

Phil,

No problem seeing the zerk on the tierods but there is no zerk on the bottom of the strut?

The strut joint has a different configuration and I wonder how a zerk would fit into that?

Are you saying that the OEM joint has to be removed and replaced with a MOOG product?

[wildcat077]

Gunter,

I didn't have to replace the ball joints yet ...
Out of habit i grease,anti seize or lubricate everything i remove and try to replace original parts that i have to change with greasable replacement units !

Ask me why i know ??? I've owned my Ford F150 since 1998 and you don't want to know how many sets of inner and outer tie rod ends i had to change as well as upper and lower ball joints ... lol

Design flaw,of course Ford won't admit to it but i put the odds on my side by using better replacement parts than original !
I'll look into getting hold of a MOOG Porsche ball joint replacement if i can and see if it's a sealed unit or if it has a grease zerk on it!
Will keep you posted on that one .

Cheers !
Phil

[Gunter]

So, has anyone found a replacement joint with a zerk for the strut?

My Bilsteins don't have a smooth round bottom that one would see on regular ball joints.
It has a small external metal disc attached with a hex screw?
How would one drill and get a zerk in there?

[equality72521]

Originally Posted by safe

Wasn't around back in the days, so I have never seen a car with grease fittings

Take a look at a 1997-2006 Jeep Wrangler. My 2006 has grease fittings everywhere.

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by wildcat077

Guys,

Here you go,i took a pic of the MOOG tie rod ends that i installed on my 89 Carrera last summer when i did the shocks.
As you can see they have a grease fitting and they come dry or with minimal grease when new.

I've been installing MOOG or TRW suspension products on all my vehicles because they have a lifetime warranty and are greasable...
For anybody interested,the part number is ES2096R,same for both sides !

On the lower picture is the OEM Porsche tie rod end .

Cheers !
Phil

Thanks Wildcat! On his Picture you see a Small Hex on the Bottom of the Ball Joint. When they "First" stopped using Zerk Fittings they installed a removable Screw and then you were "Supposed to" pull the screw and put the grease fitting in and lube the Joint then Remove the Zerk Fitting and replace the Screw. Of course 50% did nothing and 50% put in the Zerk fitting all of the way around (The Gas Stations at the time enjoyed this because they could add the cost of removing and replacing everything).

I drill the hole in the cap at the Bottom of the Ball Joint then thread it and put in New Zerk Fittings. The metal is not that thick (about 1/8") so the 1/8" Pipe tap only makes about 2 threads. You also have to tap it a few times between Cleaning the tap and making sure the threaded hole is not too big. You only want the Grease fitting to go in far enough to be a little past Flush On the INSIDE You can actually put it in far enough to touch the Joint itself. On the newer Lower Control Arms I have received for my BMW 320I the Cap is now a Cup about 1 inch deep and makes a excellent resevoir for the grease

[lou6]

One site said they used self tapping zerk fittings. Would there be an advantage doing it this way. Another said he welded a nut to provide more threads. Any comments on using cold weld to attach the nut for more threads? I don't have access to a welder and cold weld sounds fast.

[azasadny]

Good ideas here!