Seized Grease Zerk

Hey All,

Like many others, I've been noticing squeak coming from the rear at very low speeds and I'm almost certains it's not a leaf.

I decided to go at the drive shaft with a grease gun only to find the u joint I suspect is squeaking was unable to be greased. It seems as though the zerk is seized and will not allow grease to flow, despite my best efforts.

Is it worth replacing only the zerk or is this symptomatic of a failure u joint? Is there a thread size etc I should be aware of when buying a replacement zerk?

Below is a photo of the zerk, do I simply remove the clip and unscrew the zerk and replace?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

If you can bend the clip enough to get a socket on the zerk you wont have to remove the clip at all. It will back right out

 

fair enough, but is the seizing/squeeking symptomatic of a failure u joint?

 

How many miles do you have?

 

Grease around the joints if you can't get the zerk to work. I don't like greaseable joints just because of their strength. But keep in mind when I'm looking for u-joints, they're normally for off road durability, not streetablitliy.

 

Whipper: I'm aware of the amount of u joints, I just bought the truck used and it's my first greasing.

CR250jumper: There's about 90k miles

ATriplett: I'm more interested in keeping the bearing inside each cap of the ujoint properly lubricated, I'm pretty sure that's where the squeeking is coming from.

 

It's not uncommon for the ball in the zerk fitting to get stuck. Just take a small flathead screwdriver and press it on the lil ball on the zerk to unstuck it, then continue greezin'

 

What Tex said, plus clean the zerk wit some WD40.

 

At 90K and squeaking I would replace them if I was keeping the truck for awhile. I did all 3 on my son's and it has 100k. It would squeak when he backed up. 1 joint was very rusty, 1 had hardly no roller pins left in it.

 

It's most likely not the zerk that's plugged but the passage way. Do the u joints look like they've ever been greased? If not, and they are squeaking, I would replace all the u joints. Most people don't grease u joints much less know what they are.

 

So I tapped the ball with a punch and it came free quite easily, however, I was still unable to pump grease into the joint, clearly it's bad right? That being said, the squeaking only occurs when I move slow after the truck has sat for awhile. After driving around a bit, when I slow to a crawl the squeak's no longer heard. Does that make sense to anyone??

 

sounds like u gonna have to do the u-joints bro. no getting around it.

 

Might as well replace the u-joint.I bet it is the rear one.Its normally the first to go.

 

your grease gun good?

i once help an operator run about his excavator oiling things. one fitting gave me hell. he used his gun and it worked. never could explain things.

 

There is always the grease buster:

http://www.greasebustertools.net/

 

ensure that grease gun attatchment is effectively clamping onto the nipple (it could be threaded in order to increase or decrease how it tight it is)

 

You have nothing to lose but a buck or two by replacing the zerk. They sometimes fail - we replace them at work all the time.

If you aren't going to change out the joint yourself, it'll likely cost you a $100 or so (parts and labor) depending on where you go.

Did you try pumping the gun with one hand while holding pressure onto the zerk with the other?

 

I installed zerk fittings on my '93 Toy's ball joints the day I got it.
I meticulously greased them and the U-joints and double cardan joints every time I changed the oil. The owners manual specified "only Molybdenum-disulfide grease" for the driveline. When I talked to the service manager if it was OK to use the moly grase in the ball joints he just gave me a dumb look and said he didn't know what that was. I asked what THEY use for the driveline joints, so he checked with a mechanic, and he said, "just grease". I never trusted them to "routine maintenance" after that.

The ball joints and drive line are perfect after 178K. But the truck recently died from terminal frame rust after 19 years.

Try using some PB Blaster Penetrating oil, letting it sit a bit, and maybe poking the ball with a small pointy object to loosen it up. Mine would sometimes seize up after a salty winter, but I always got them undone with minimum fuss.

I wish I could find some plastic caps to cover them.

Good luck, but like others said, if they have been ignored you may be in for some parts replacement.

 

I think I might see some rust blowback on the yoke....can't tell which end I'm looking at in the pic, though.

Anyway, on a failing joint you can sometimes see rust migrating out of the roller bearings at one or more of the four seals on the U-joint.

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Lh4O1JQkNHI

will answer the other comments in a sec, here is one more video