Greasing Chassis

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Car in question is my 2018 Chevy Silverado 3500HD.

I get a couple of free oil changes at the dealership, so yesterday I had the oil changed for the first time in my new truck. I asked about chassis grease and the service manager said:

"You don't want to add grease until the rubber boot is deflated, otherwise you will rupture it"

I'll be the first to admit, I'm inexperienced at hitting ball joints, tie rod ends, and other zerks with a grease gun. But it's my understanding is that you squeeze fresh grease through the zerk until you see it push out the other side of joint? Is that not the case?

Of course, I could see a bozo pumping the snot out of a grease gun and blowing out the seal.

And one last question, what happens to the grease over time? Does it slowly seep out of the junctions and fall away?
 
I'm with you. I like greasing my suspension parts until I can watch the boot filling up with grease. If some grease spewed out, not biggie!

Where does the grease go? I think that over time with suspension movement up & down, side to side, that the grease works it way out little by little and can ultimately start to dry up if not replenished regularly.
 
The word deflated may be the wrong word choice since you don't want to run it to the point of it needing grease, but yes you could overfill something and cause a boot to tear.

Does the manual say how often to grease everything? Is there a way for you to grease it by feel? Maybe 1 or 2 full pumps and call it good?
 
I watch for it to start to swell or feel it swell then stop. If a tiny bit oozes out between the bottom of the boot and where the boot sits no big deal. People have a tendency to pump like mad until it is forced out, and usually end up splitting the boot. I've seen some shops use air grease guns and fill it until it is forced out. One guy I knew didn't wipe the zerk fittings off before greasing the cars, forcing dirt into the joint, not good! I guess time is money and the faster the grease goes in the faster the vehicle is off the lift.

My van is the only vehicle I currently own with grease fittings. I grease it twice a year, not based on miles. I do it in the early spring, and the late fall before the first snow fall. That schedule has served me well. Many people grease their vehicles when they change the oil.
 
Fill them till they just swell a little thats it. Some of the new boots are using Euro style spring retainers to help prevent grease loss, the problem is this style of retainers was meant for LFL joints so yes they can burst easier than old school open end boots.
Try Schaeffers 238, it is a high 5% moly greaae and stays in the joint a long time. Invest in a good grease gun if you don't own one and do your own grease jobs.

https://www.amazon.com/Schaeffer-Manufac...=schaeffers+238
 
Pump a little grease onto a paper towel. Not much is expended with each pump. On open joints on my tractor, I pump grease until the old dirty grease is expelled. On "sealed" boot type joints, I carefully watch, feel that some grease is filling the boot.
 
I grease once a year on my 2008 3/4 ton Chev. I find I never have to pump more than 3 times on the full size lever type gun. I look to see that the boot swells a bit and normally don’t try to get grease to ooze out but don’t worry if it does.

I’ll edit this based on Mastersolenoid’s comments. This is a rubber boot that will let grease escape, but the boot normally gets quite plump before it starts to escape.
 
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Pump a little grease onto a paper towel. Not much is expended with each pump. On open joints on my tractor, I pump grease until the old dirty grease is expelled. On "sealed" boot type joints, I carefully watch, feel that some grease is filling the boot.

I think this explains some of the confusion.
Some joints have either:
1) Plastic Cover
2) Rubber Boot that allowed grease to come out / new grease would push out water
3) Sealed Rubber Boot that would require occasional greasing / that you could rupture
4) Sealed Rubber Boot with NO Zerk Fitting

Correct me if I'm wrong, but greasing would depend on the type of Boot Cover.
 
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All the greaseable joints I've seen had boots that have a grease relief. I always just pump slowly until the grease oozes out. Why would they design greaseable boots with no relief?
 
I do not like the suspension parts that are not greasable . But if that is the way they come from the factory , not much you can do .

I certainly am not going to swap them out for parts that have grease zerts . Wait until they wear out , then replace them .
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
I do not like the suspension parts that are not greasable . But if that is the way they come from the factory , not much you can do.

Interesting, I don't like the ones that are. The greaseable ones I've bought in the past have worn out much faster than the non-greaseable ones (especially Moog). Maybe they have improved since I last tried them but I find them inferior.
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Did you grease them ?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I do all my own maintenance and have a couple of grease guns.

I remember thinking at the time it sounded like a good idea to be able to grease them but for whatever reason it just didn't work out for my cars. It was only on my Asian vehicles, the BMW doesn't have any greaseable parts even in the aftermarket.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
I do not like the suspension parts that are not greasable . But if that is the way they come from the factory , not much you can do.

Interesting, I don't like the ones that are. The greaseable ones I've bought in the past have worn out much faster than the non-greaseable ones (especially Moog). Maybe they have improved since I last tried them but I find them inferior.

Because they are not as durable as sealed, that's why they are not used anymore. Moog sucks.

I was looking at cars on kijiji last night and one had a pic of the front clip off and a bunch of moog boxes. I actually cringed.
 
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