What are all grease able items on our trucks?

[AuroraGirl]

I was greasing stuff on my trucks when I did oil changes, and noticed square had a lot of zerks. I used a lot of grease. However, there were other things that had bushings or I joints that I could not find zerks but we're clearly more worn. Body mounts, 1 ball joint, shock mounts, steering damper, body mounts, engine mounts, z bar(oh boy), steering gear, etc. Has anyone made a all possible list? Things without zerks, I kinda just shot some grease around and at the sides or them. Like leaf spring mounts and shock mounts. However, I have a lot of u joints and a slipjoint, but how do I greasr them? Or perhaps they weren't made to grease. One u joint is special in front of transfer case, it's got like 2 or 3 and I tried to find a zerk but just shot grease around em for now. I also went under dash and shot brake and clutch pedal, lifted shift boot and now my shifter moves very very nice, transfer case too, I found rubber holes on my leaf springs and assumed those are for grease?

 

[shiftpro]

There are surprisingly few zerks on these machines. 4x4 even less.. One can upgrade with hollow spring hanger bolts, and even grooved leaf spring bushings (to allow grease to flow around).
ORD (you know who they are right?) has these spring hanger bolts for sure.

Just shooting grease in the general idea I think is just making a mess, but you have good intentions..
Here is a trick just for you;
WD40 the life outta your spring hanger bushings. Drive, rinse and repeat an few times. Over a few days.. Then you can spray wash if you want but follow up after the WD40 bath with something like FuidFilm, or a silicon spray... anything really. Even motor oil... but that will help eat up the old decayed rubber perhaps. Silicon will NOT harm the rubber bushing no matter how rotten it is. Just remember, WD40 is NOT really a lubricant. It is a cleaner and water dispersing solvent. It also conditions rubber.

When you buy new U joints for your driveshafts, you have the choice with/without zerks.
If you CV or regular driveshaft U joint has a zerk, and you can't get the grease gun on it, might have to jack up truck frame to allow the suspension to droop and rotate shaft until you can get in there.

 

[idahovette]

Should have a "cup" style zerk in the middle of the CV joint at the rear of the front shaft. You will need a "needle" style end on your grease gun.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Should have a "cup" style zerk in the middle of the CV joint at the rear of the front shaft. You will need a "needle" style end on your grease gun.

This is likely correct, but I hadnt seen it before. I should probably get some degreaser and clean it up a bit? I have a needle gun, and I didnt know what my grandpa used it for until I noticed little holes in my floor jack that whe I hit all 10+ of them, the thing slides and works GREAT.

But, Im struggling to find in a picture of the u joint you mentioned where I would stick the needle. I see a lot of pics with zerks on the face. forgive my ignorance

 

[SirRobyn0]

This is likely correct, but I hadnt seen it before. I should probably get some degreaser and clean it up a bit? I have a needle gun, and I didnt know what my grandpa used it for until I noticed little holes in my floor jack that whe I hit all 10+ of them, the thing slides and works GREAT.

But, Im struggling to find in a picture of the u joint you mentioned where I would stick the needle. I see a lot of pics with zerks on the face. forgive my ignorance

They are usually in the end cap, but sometime in the joint itself. 4th pic down shows the needle grease fitting on a u joint https://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/ujoint1/u-joint-4.htm

Is that what you were looking for?

 

[Turbo4whl]

The CV joint in this picture is the one @idahovette is talking about. You cannot see it in this angle, but there is a rod between the 2 "U" joints. It has ball ends that fit in the socket holes in the center of each joint. There is a cup style zerk in this rod to grease both ends of the ball socket.

@SirRobyn0 's fourth picture shows what the zerk looks like, but it is in the center rod, not on the cap. Practically impossible to grease unless you get just the right angle.

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[SirRobyn0]

The CV joint in this picture is the one @idahovette is talking about. You cannot see it in this angle, but there is a rod between the 2 "U" joints. It has ball ends that fit in the socket holes in the center of each joint. There is a cup style zerk in this rod to grease both ends of the ball socket.

@SirRobyn0 's fourth picture shows what the zerk looks like, but it is in the center rod, not on the cap. Practically impossible to grease unless you get just the right angle.

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Just to be clear that is correct, I was just going for a picture of the zerk, not the location or type of joint.

 

[Memaloose]

You can't learn if you don't ask questions. Also educate yourself in the repair and maintenance manual.
I've found that practice makes me more proficient and repetitiveness (regular maintenance) keeps me sharp.
It's great to see you take an interest in your vehicle, so many people just drive them into the ground.
Lots of good advice on the U joints.

 

[Grit dog]

The pic above is called a cardan joint on the front ds.
There is typically a grease fitting (forget the technical name) in the center of the cardan joint that lubes that part. Requires a needle fitting. It’s hard to find. Much easier if you remove the driveshaft which is good practice on older vehicles as bolts could be rusted in place and better to sort that out before you “need” to remove it. Then you can lube the slip yoke if it doesn’t have a fitting.
Otherwise generally, quit slathering grease on everything. Makes a mess and generally isn’t going to help much if at all.
In general, if it has a fitting, grease it. If it dont, don’t.
There are some instances where “sealed” or non greaseable components benefit from lubing, but you need to get the grease “in” not “on”. What you’re doing is like rubbing aspirin on your forehead rather than eating it and hoping it works by osmosis!
Too much grease in a sealed application, think trailer bearings for example, is bad as well. Pushes seals out, gets on brakes, makes mess.
Rubber bushings, boots, mounts can benefit from silicone lube, to increase lifespan, not necessarily to lube them against friction.
Moving parts that are metal on metal, like short linkage or door latch benefit from lube, but be judicious about it. It only works on the friction surfaces. All the extra just gathers dirt and sand and makes it worse.
Some things you’d think need greased, like locking hubs, don’t. They should be dry and clean or they’re just hard to operate especially in cold weather. Maybe a light shot of lightweight lube like wire rope lube or silicone spray or Fluid film on the worm gear. But not on the sliding surfaces.

If I were you I’d pressure wash off 95% of what you goobered on everything while it’s still fresh, so you’re not wallowing in dirty grease during every future repair.

the name of the game is to grease what needs greased and be neat about it, then you don’t have a mess the next time.

 

[AuroraGirl]

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