9th Grease Fitting

[Hikerdogs]

Last week at the Winnebago Rally in Forest City Iowa I went to the Ford chassis maintenance seminar. This may be old news to some of you, but I learned there are 9 grease fittings on the front end of the Ford F53 chassis.

I was aware of the 8 on the axle & steering linkage, 1 on the top and bottom of each king pin (totaling 4), 1 on each end of the tie rod (totaling 2), and 1 on each end of the drag link (totaling 2).

I learned at the seminar that there is a 9th fitting on the steering gear box where the pitman arm attaches. If you stand on the drivers side of the coach facing the drivers sidewall its on the steering gear box just above and behind the pitman arm at the 10:00 position. It's a little hard to find since it's covered with a little black rubber cap at the factory.

[Hikerdogs]

Last week at the Winnebago Rally in Forest City Iowa I went to the Ford chassis maintenance seminar. This may be old news to some of you, but I learned there are 9 grease fittings on the front end of the Ford F53 chassis.

I was aware of the 8 on the axle & steering linkage, 1 on the top and bottom of each king pin (totaling 4), 1 on each end of the tie rod (totaling 2), and 1 on each end of the drag link (totaling 2).

I learned at the seminar that there is a 9th fitting on the steering gear box where the pitman arm attaches. If you stand on the drivers side of the coach facing the drivers sidewall its on the steering gear box just above and behind the pitman arm at the 10:00 position. It's a little hard to find since it's covered with a little black rubber cap at the factory.

[FlashG]

Thanks for the Ford diagram/information. I showed it to the guys at my local MH lube shop while getting service this week. They had no knowledge of the 9th fitting. Nice posting!

[SRT]

Checked out my '99 chassis. Found the ninth fitting on the steering box. But on mine it wasn't a zerk fitting under a rubber cap. Instead there was a plug threaded into the steering box. Wonder if I should remove the plug and screw in a zerk fitting?

[Bounder Ernie]

Thanks for the heads up. I just greased mine two days ago and missed that one. I wont miss it again.

[Hikerdogs]

BillArf is correct when he says the drawing is not precise. In the drawing the arrow for fitting # 9 is actually pointing to a plug in the steering box. The arrow should be pointing to the dark spot slightly above and to the left of where the arm is attached to the shaft on the box.

Also if you have an 01 or older F53 chassis the universal joints have grease fittings. I was told that late in 02 they went to the sealed joints

[Ned]

I found the 9th fitting okay, but oddly it was the only one that would not take grease. It had the cap on it, so not dirty like the other 8 fittings. The fitting seems to be recessed and I have not been able to get a socket on it to remove it and replace it with new zerk fitting.

[bobpie]

Also if you have an 01 or older F53 chassis the universal joints have grease fittings. I was told that late in 02 they went to the sealed joints[/QUOTE]
Yes they sure do. At each joint there is a fitting. "3", I believe.

[bobpie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by bobpie:
Also if you have an 01 or older F53 chassis the universal joints have grease fittings. I was told that late in 02 they went to the sealed joints </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes they sure do. At each joint there is a fitting. "3", I believe.[/QUOTE]
great pics Bilarf

[billyb]

i still want to know if the plug on the steering box is an actual place to grease or is hydraulic fluid in that hole. does anyone know for sure.

[JoeH]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by SRT:
Checked out my '99 chassis. Found the ninth fitting on the steering box. But on mine it wasn't a zerk fitting under a rubber cap. Instead there was a plug threaded into the steering box. Wonder if I should remove the plug and screw in a zerk fitting? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

On my 1999 there is a zerk on the steering box

[billyb]

well after talking with the ford tech, i still didn't know anything more, so i took a screw driver and poked around the plug and it popped off, and there it was a zerk fitting.

[billyb]

hi billarf, what i first saw was a little larger plug that had what looked like a hex head and i thought that was it. then i saw the cap over the zerk which was in a different spot

[billyb]

ok, thanks for the number on the gas filter. i replaced mine on my old 98 vortec chassis religiously, but i still had to replace the pump while in alberta ca., on my way to alaska. the unit only had 31k miles on it and the filter in the tank was really coated with a white powder. i think the pump was ok, but the coating on the pump filters was causing the problem. i never did get anything out of the in line filter though.i since have bought the clip tool.
also another question, where is the small filter located, at the engine or on the frame rail. i have 5k miles on this one and have never had the engine cover off yet.