The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - Do original ball joints have grease zerks?

LONGHAIR · 01-08-2006, 09:16 AM

As far as I know, none of the factory front axle joints had grease fittings. This includes Ford and Dodge too. The ones with the little needle fitting are a Spicer replacement part and even those are not the "standard" part, they are an up-grade. I'm pretty sure that the hardcore off-roaders don't use them though. They consider them weaker because of the cross drilling that makes it so the you get grease to all of the caps from a fitting in just one of them. The originals and the standard replacements are not drilled and get greased only one time as they are assembled.

So, that would indicate that you have at least one that has been replaced.

01-08-2006, 09:16 AM	#5
LONGHAIR just can't cover up my redneck Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbus OH Posts: 11,414	Re: Do original ball joints have grease zerks? As far as I know, none of the factory front axle joints had grease fittings. This includes Ford and Dodge too. The ones with the little needle fitting are a Spicer replacement part and even those are not the "standard" part, they are an up-grade. I'm pretty sure that the hardcore off-roaders don't use them though. They consider them weaker because of the cross drilling that makes it so the you get grease to all of the caps from a fitting in just one of them. The originals and the standard replacements are not drilled and get greased only one time as they are assembled. So, that would indicate that you have at least one that has been replaced.