Community Forums

saddlesore · 02-07-2017, 11:46 AM

One word of caution !!!!! IF you have zert fittings on your disc brake calipers....
BE SURE TO CHECK whether they require regular grease or if they require CLAY BASED LUBE !!!!! on the slides, if they do ...... get the correct grease & and as the say'n goes.... "A little dab will do ya".

AITG · 02-07-2017, 12:33 PM

A couple of things: don't just blast away with a powered grease gun. There are seals in kingpins and u-joints that can be damaged. give it a quick pump then let it flow for a second before pumping again.
Second, read the directions on greasing the slip yoke. Again, don't just blast away. The soft plug on the end can be pushed out by excessive pressure.
Third, from personal experience I tripled my kingpin live by switching to a calcium sulfonate grease. A lot of companies offer it- read the tube.

twinboat · 02-07-2017, 12:57 PM

Wow, were up to 3 grease's on the front end alone. Caliper grease fitting grease ?, King pin grease and synthetic Tie Rod grease. That's 3 guns too, you wouldn't want to cross contaminate anything.
Who does this ?

Our shop, like millions of others, had EP#2 grease. It worked everywhere.

TeJay · 02-07-2017, 01:37 PM

Synthetic grease also works everywhere on my vehicles.

I have seldom worked on anything bigger than a 1-Ton vehicle except for Chrysler and Ford MH's. I have NEVER seen a grease fitting on any brake caliper, EVER.

Mentioning a grease fitting on a caliper scares me. While they may resemble a grease fitting they are not. They are bleeder screws. I have had just a few students try to grease them.

Yes the caliper slides do need lubed but not in that location and only once about every 30-40-K miles. Maybe more based on the few miles some put on their MH' s every year.

F76Marion · 02-07-2017, 01:51 PM

I would echo most of what is here. There are some small asides:
- Lincoln 1143 is a wonderful tool. Do not be suckered in by the CCV. A single hand gun is easier to manage under a coach, but it is tougher on the hand.
- An 1163 is not bad either, but you have to have compressed air, and if the fitting does not take great (for what ever reason) you will not necessarily know about that as it may keep making pumping sounds. With a hand gun, you will know.
- The Ford grease is good, but in recent years, I have gone to Valvoline Syn-pro. It is also a moly loaded grease, so don't get either on anything nice. Molybdenum Disulfide does not wash out and can't be bleached out. Neither is cheap, but both are cheaper than replacing any parts.
- I have not needed the lock on coupler or any longer hose for my Dodge/Cayo (12 grease points) and neither has Matt (BIL) for his GMC (14). He has 4 very difficult places to grease and I suspect that most of the county knows when he is trying to get to those places.
*CCV Cheap Chinese Version
Frank - A ship's engineer and recent refugee from automotive laboratories

marjoa · 02-10-2017, 08:07 PM

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/kingp...ml#post3399255
(Also don't forget the #9 hidden grease point (hydraulic steering unit) which I forgot to mention in the link above)

The good thing about doing grease jobs yourself, or any maintenance for that matter, is you get very familiar with your coach. While you're under the chassis greasing, you now have an opportunity to look closely at everything else under there. It's amazing what you'll see that needs tending to.

BTW...my chassis drive shaft "U" joints has no grease points.

AITG · 03-01-2017, 02:56 PM

I did my first grease job yesterday...At 850 miles. I noticed that the rear end of the drag link can't be greased unless the wheels are turned. I had DW crank the wheels to one side and found that the grease fitting took three times more grease than any of the rest of the fittings. Once grease came out it was red (my grease) instead of black (factory grease).
Someone on the assembly line missed it...or ignored it. Next time I will change the zerk to a 45 degree.

TeJay · 03-01-2017, 03:22 PM

marjoa,

It's a funny think with U-joint grease fittings. Usually if it's a heavy duty vehicle like a dump truck etc the U-joints will have a zerk. They are subject to great abuse (heavy loads) so they are needed. Even sometimes a MH will have them from the factory but not a guarantee. At the MH chassis factory many of these items are from outside suppliers and sometimes the bid that is filled has a zerk already. Others time not. It's just the luck of the draw.

Most aftermarket U-joints will have them. Usually on smaller trucks and cars if I see a zerk on a vehicle it's a safe bet that it's been replaced.