It has been nearly 30 years since I greased a suspension joint. I think I greased a joint with zerk fitting until some of new grease oozed out of the rubber seal. Is that right?
I just bought a set of sway bar link with zerk fittings. It seems the joints are not greased from the factory – when I look into the hole where I need to put the zerk fitting, I see no grease. My last set of sway bar link failed after only about 30,000 miles. I am thinking the guys at the factory did not fill enough grease in the joints before sealing them. So, this time, I made sure I got them with serviceable zerk fittings.
Do I fill it until some grease oozes out of the rubber or should I just eyeball it until it is full?
It appears that when filling the joints for the first time, grease would have to “push out” the empty space as the joints get filled. This means there would have to be some way for the air to get out (besides the zerk fitting itself) as grease enters the joint. That makes it sound like it would be safe to fill it until some grease oozes out of the joints.
Just fill it until the joint starts to swell( usually 2 pumps on a standard size grease gun. Try to avoid forcing grease past the seal, but don’t lose any sleep about it if you do.
If the grease is contained in a rubber boot, don’t burst the boot. Just put enough grease in till the boot begins to “fill out” to a full rounded shape.
If the rubber boot is an “umbrella” style, where it only covers the joint but is not sealed around it, then there is less concern for over-greasing it. Just wipe off the excess.
When I bought the first pair a couple of years ago, I got the sealed kind, because even those would last longer than I plan on driving the car. But they failed in about 30,000 miles, which was a surprise to me. So, this time, I got the ones with grease fittings.