How to use a grease gun for new anti-sway controls

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I replaced my old anti-sway bars on my 2007 Chrysler Town and Country. The new parts came needed to be greased so I bought myself a small grease gun, but I am not sure exactly how to make sure the grease is in the gall joints. Do I need to loosen the nipple a bit from the joint before attaching the hose to the nipple in order for the air inside the joint to escape? If it is tight I don’t feel like any grease is getting into the joint.

Would the steps be:

  1. loosen the nipple by about 1/2 a turn.
  2. attach the grease gun to the nipple and grease the joint? (would I just pump until there is grease coming out of the threads around the nipple?)
  3. tighten the nipple again
  4. remove the grease gun

Any advice would be appreciated.

2

Just put it together and pump until grease exits the nipple.

3

Don’t loosen the nipple. Attach the grease gun to the nipple and grease the joint. You will hear air being displaced and crackling noise. Give it 3 pumps and call it a day. Then every oil change give it a couple pumps.

4

The nip you speak of is probably a zirk fittting. The zirk fitting has a spring and ball bearing inside, so pressure from the grease gun allows grease to enter, but not escape. My old school rule of thumb was keep shooting grease in until you see the boot start to swell.

5

If you don’t feel any grease is getting into the balljoint, you may need to purge the air from the gun. Some grease guns I’ve used are hard to get primed and just don’t push any grease out of them unless you purge the air out.

You should have seen the joint’s boot swell or grease flow out of the boot.

Yosemite

6

The “old school” rule of thumb was always to do as barky said, or even keep pumping until grease begins to show coming out the edges.

7

When I hit zerks, I keep pumping until I see fresh grease oozing out

Another thing . . . use different color grease. If the old grease is red, pump in black. Keep pumping, until you see black grease oozing out

8

Thank you all for the help. I don’t think I got enough grease in there because I can still hear a knocking sound coming from the front end. Is there any danger of popping the boots if I put too much in there?

9

@crfndr

Quick question . . .

Why are you so sure the “knocking sound coming from the front end” was the sway bar links?

10

Grease will not generally stop a knocking sound. I think something else is broken or loose.

11

Yep, more grease want help, something is either worn or loose.

12

The sway bars I removed had completely broken boots and were very difficult to move so they needed to be replaced for sure. The noise has changed from a very metallic sounding “clank” to a more muted sounding clunk. That is why I think I did not get enough grease in the joints. The sound does not happen when I am turning, but only when going straight.

That being said, I could have knocking coming from somewhere else too. Perhaps tie rod ends? The car does have 180000 miles on it to it is possible for more things to be at issue.

13

Check the strut mounts. With the hood open and the front of the van SAFELY jacked high enough that the tires don’t touch the ground grab the wheels and lift upward on them while watching the strut tower under the hood. If the nut in the center of the mount has any free play the mount is shot.