Zert Fittings On An 04

[DJamrose]

I WAS AT THE OIL CHANGE PLACE THE OTHER DAY AND THE MECHANIC CAME UP TO ME AND SAID THAT THEY ONLY HAVE TWO ZERT FITTING S ON MY TRUCK I SAID YEAH , HE SAID THAT IS STUPID THATS THE REASON YOUR JOINTS FAIL HE SAID I SHOULD CALL MY DEALER AND ASK THEM TO INSTALL ZERT FITTINGS ON MY TRUCK ANYONE HEARD OF THIS

 

[lschultz]

Yep they only have two courtesy of the great DC engineers. Looks good on paper but in the real world it sucks. You might get your dealer to put some on for a price.

 

[PJ]

They saved maybe $1 per truck by omitting the fittings but they are making up for it with all the ball joint failures. Good luck getting D/C to install any. They would rather replace Ball Joints,, U joints and tires due to abd suspension wear. Save a $1 and spend a $1,000 or more. Kinda makes you :-laf wonder :-laf :--) :--)

 

[DJamrose]

Thanks Guys Makes You Wonder Where The $40,000+ Are Going

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

That's been the trend for some time, less zerk fittings so you'll be sure to wear out your front end.



I drilled and installed zerk fittings on the inner & outer tie rod ends and upper ball joints on my '01 4x2. Front end was tight as new when I sold it at 87k.



Vaughn



PS welcome to TDR DJamrose. Just an FYI, typing in all CAPS is considered SHOUTING

 

[Prairie Dog]

They don't even have the holes for more zerk fittings.

 

[DJamrose]

Thanks for the heads up on the capitals i'm very new to this site and to the diesel world. so far i love it.

 

[KYLE4]

Remember the old days when all vehicles were loaded up with zirk fittings and repackable bearings the good old days

 

[Casey Balvert]

Any one know the drill and tap size for a zerk fitting?

 

[DJamrose]

I Talked to my dealer at dodge city and he told me that there are(were) zert fittings there when they build the truck but they break them in half and put tape over them the only way to put new fittings on is with aftermarket ball joints as he said they are permanently lubricated(unlubricated)

 

[JHardwick]

Any one know the drill and tap size for a zerk fitting?

Depends on a what size thread ... ... ... .



An 1/8"-27 NPT is an "R" drill



A 1/16"-27 NPT is a "D" drill

 

[PJ]

Remember the old days when all vehicles were loaded up with zirk fittings and repackable bearings the good old days

Remember the good old days when some of us worked in service stations/ anyone wnat to admit greasing the brake bleader fitting??? :-laf :-laf

Yup, I did it once... . or twice about 35 years ago when fuel was 22 cents a gallon. :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[JHardwick]

Remember the good old days when some of us worked in service stations/ anyone wnat to admit greasing the brake bleader fitting??? :-laf :-laf

Yup, I did it once... . or twice about 35 years ago when fuel was 22 cents a gallon. :-laf :-laf :-laf

I don't get it



You were messing with peoples brakes?

 

[Michael Gibson]

I think what he was referring to was the brake bleeder looks a lot like a zerk fitting at a quick glance.

 

[WMcGuire]

Remember the good old days when some of us worked in service stations/ anyone wnat to admit greasing the brake bleader fitting??? :-laf :-laf

Yup, I did it once... . or twice about 35 years ago when fuel was 22 cents a gallon. :-laf :-laf :-laf

Yep,, saw lots of bleeder plugs well lubricated, keeps em from rusting I guess :-laf :-laf



But all seriousness aside, in all my years around machinery, more damage has been done by novices overgreasing the bearings and ruining the seals or by contamination from faulty or damaged zerks either letting the grease out or letting water or dirt in, I personally just love those lubed for lifetime units, I could probably point you to hundreds if not thousands of examples where they perform for years and years without trouble

 

[JHardwick]

I think what he was referring to was the brake bleeder looks a lot like a zerk fitting at a quick glance.

oh... ... ... yeah ... ... ... um ... ... ... . I get it now :-laf



I may be slow, but I always seem to catch up :-laf :-laf

 

[Casey Balvert]

Depends on a what size thread ... ... ... .



An 1/8"-27 NPT is an "R" drill



A 1/16"-27 NPT is a "D" drill

Thanks Jeff. Not familiar with the "letter" drill sizes but should be able to cross reference the size to something numerical.



Anyone that has done this have any tips? I figure I can't lose anything by trying it.



Casey

 

[JHardwick]

recommended hole sizes are . 2416" and . 3339"

 

[rbattelle]

But all seriousness aside, in all my years around machinery, more damage has been done by novices overgreasing the bearings and ruining the seals or by contamination from faulty or damaged zerks either letting the grease out or letting water or dirt in, I personally just love those lubed for lifetime units, I could probably point you to hundreds if not thousands of examples where they perform for years and years without trouble

You know, sometimes it freaks me out the way things I look into outside this board suddenly end up as someone else's posts. Just today I was reading the grease section in Machinery's Handbook. I must confess, I never knew how much science there is behind grease - methods, applications, and types. I always thought "there's no such thing as too much grease" and "grease is grease"... nothing could be farther from the truth. In the future, I will be much more careful about grease.



I highly recommend reading the dissertation on grease in Machinery's Handbook, if you have a copy (if you don't, your local library should carry it... I'd post some interesting facts from the book, but I leave it at work and now I'm home). A real eye-opener. And I'm sure there are some other excellent more expansive texts on the subject.



-Ryan

 

[Cattletrkr]

I don't think you can over-grease an "open seal" bearing. (not sure on terminology there). Any piece of farm machinery that says "one pump" gets only one pump and NO MORE, but anything like u-joints on a PTO shaft get grease until you can see it. Never had a problem with over greasing such a bearing. However, a tightly sealed bearing will blow its seals if it gets too much grease, and then it's bye-bye bearing.



I think the reason for DC going to a greaseless u-joint, or whatever else, is because too many guys don't know how to use a grease gun. A "greaseless" u-joint will last a lot longer than a "greaseable" u-joint that never gets greased. Good for the majority of CTD owners, but not for heavy workers.



Of course, I could be way off base, wouldn't be the first time.