Grease fittings issue

[ZLarryb]

Hull 1467, just picked up in January.  I am trying to grease the axle fittings for the first time with little success.  I bought a new locknlube grease gun and a 90 degree extension.  I primed it ..... after a bit of a hassle.

 

Only one of the four of five fittings I have tried to grease have accepted it.  The rest come out the front of the fitting, not into the fitting.  I order another extension just in case it is faulty but I have a feeling it is me.  

Any tricks or suggestions?

[ScubaRx]

Jack up the side of the trailer that the fittings are on that you are trying to grease. This will relieve any pressure being placed onto the wet bolts by the weight of the trailer. That usually makes it much easier to get them to take grease. You may never get it to squirt out both ends of the bushing equally.

[ZLarryb]

That would never have occurred to me, back to the camper, thanks a lot!

[ZLarryb]

So that really helped a lot.  There is still one that will not respond.  I will try again tomorrow when I am fresh and will not cuss it. ;-), thanks again for the help.

[rich.dev]

1 hour ago, ZLarryb said:

Only one of the four of five fittings I have tried to grease have accepted it.

There are 16 zerks (8 on each side), THIS video from Oliver (Jason) is a good reference for where the zerks are and how to apply the grease.

[ZLarryb]

I am responding to my own thread as I still cannot get grease into some of the fittings on the axles.  I have jacked the camper up but that did not make much difference.  I am using the LockNLube grease gun with the 90 degree fitting.  I have tried two of the 90 degree fittings so I know it must be me.  I cannot get the grease gun to be really secure around the zerks.  I have adjusted the fitting on the grease gun but it just does not seem secure and the grease does not go into the zerk, goes around the zerk.  Any idea what I might be doing wrong?  I have put about 1500 miles on the camper but we are headed out west in a month and I don't want to mess up.  Thanks!

 

2023 Elite II, 1467

[topgun2]

When you say, "

1 hour ago, ZLarryb said:

I have tried two of the 90 degree fittings so I know it must be me.

does that mean that you have replaced the fitting or simply that you tried another zerk that was already in place?

It is possible that the zerk in question was installed improperly - these must be installed relative to the bolt such that they will accept grease.  If this is the case then there isn't much you can do except for taking the bolt out and installing it the correct way.

However, it is more likely that there is something going on with the way you are trying to connect the grease gun to the zerk.  If you have a small "punch" or nail set you could gently press on the little "ball" that is in the end of the zerk to make sure that it will depress under pressure.  Sometimes these little ball do get "stuck".

Of course I'm also assuming that you were able to get grease into the other zerks on the Ollie?

Bill

[ZLarryb]

I have gotten about half to respond, I think it is a good suggestion to depress the zerks that are not accepting grease.  I think u are saying that all the zerks are the same. - of course - and there is only one size fitting?   I have not replaced any zerks, only tried another grease gun attachment, thanks

[Ronbrink]

1 hour ago, ZLarryb said:

I have gotten about half to respond, I think it is a good suggestion to depress the zerks that are not accepting grease.  I think u are saying that all the zerks are the same. - of course - and there is only one size fitting?   I have not replaced any zerks, only tried another grease gun attachment, thanks

Are you depressing the thumb lever to open up the four jaws? Upon release the coupler should be locked onto the zerk, and should not leak or come off until the lever is depressed again to remove.

[Ronbrink]

On 7/4/2024 at 10:28 AM, ZLarryb said:

I am using the LockNLube grease gun with the 90 degree fitting.

My previous was pertaining to use of the primary coupler with the thump lever, but since you are using the 90° adapter one must turn the adjustable collar that goes over the zerk to lock it in place and then turn in the opposite direction for ease of removal.

Edited July 5 by Ronbrink
Mote clarity

[ZLarryb]

I did turn the collar but  did not depress the thumb level, that could be it, thanks so much for all the responses, I will give it a try in the am and let u know.

[Ronbrink]

9 hours ago, ZLarryb said:

I did turn the collar but  did not depress the thumb level, that could be it, thanks so much for all the responses, I will give it a try in the am and let u know.

To be clear, the thumb lever on the LockNLube coupler, affixed to your grease gun, will be depressed when attaching the 90° extension to ensure the two components are properly joined;  then the adjustable collar at the end of said extension is turned one way to tighten its’ jaws to hold onto the zerk for a good seal and the other way to loosen the jaws for removal from the zerk when done. Many owners simply replace the stock zerks with 45° and/or 90° angled ones to eliminate the need of the adjustable extension.

[MAX Burner]

@ZLarryb - if you still are not able to get grease into some of your wet bolts after trying @Ronbrink's suggestions, you may wish to consider removing those wet bolts that aren't behaving and check for correct grease journal orientation:

1. Carefully jack up the affected side

2. Use a floor jack under the closest axle to adjust its height to completely neutralize the load on the affected wet bolt

3. Stabilized the Zerk end of the wet bolt with a wrench and remove its nut.  It's important to stabilize the wet bolt so its splines (on the Zerk end) do not strip-out in the hanger when you're un-tightening it.  The splines are intended to keep the wet bolt in place such that the grease journal remains oriented either at the 3 or 9 o'clock position - this is the position of slightly less pressure which allows the grease to flow easier when trailer weight is on the wheels.

4. Tap the wet bolt partially out of the hanger with a brass punch - as the bolt slides out a bit more than half-way from the leaf spring hanger, look for the grease journal at the mid-point of the we bolt.  It's a small hole allowing the grease to lubricate the brass (sometimes plastic) leaf spring bushing.  Attach your LockNLube and give it a squirt - this will test the Zerk and remove old grease from the wet bolt.

5. Rotate the bolt until it's oriented at the 3 or 9 o'clock position.  Clean the Zerk end of the bolt and mark it with white paint in line with the hole.  This way you'll know during future lube jobs that the grease journal is oriented correctly or if the wet bolt rotated after you've corrected the issue.

6. Carefully tap the wet bolt back into place, stabilize the Zerk end and torque to specs (45 - 50 lb-feet)

7. Grease the Zerk

Hope this helps.

Edited July 5 by MAX Burner
added clarification

[rideandfly]

Great information already posted.

Like Steve said, when jacking up the trailer sometimes allows the fitting to take grease, sometimes lifting the wheels completely off the ground or partially off the ground allows the fitting to take grease. Try different lifted positions.

If you remove the wet pins like Art said to check orientation and the pin's grease port is already at 3 or 9 o'clock is a must, rotating the wet pin 180 degrees if it's already at 3 or 9 o'clock could help, too.

Before installing Dexter's soft bronze bushings I always paint the outside diameter with castor oil and the inside of the spring eye, too. This helps allowing the bushing to slide into the spring eye with minimum distortion of the inside diameter of the bronze bushing. You can still have distortion in the inside diameter of the bronze bushing. Even if the wet pin is oriented correctly, you still may have a tight clearance area where the port is located.

With time as the bronze wears, you will gain additional clearance, too.

 

 

[ZLarryb]

Thanks all, really appreciate it.  With a big trip coming up, I was reluctantly going to take the camper to my "trailer guy".  Anyway, yesterday I was able to grease all the zerks.

Lessons learned and/or reinforced...

1.  There is no point in getting mad at an inanimate object, it does not help -- at all.  Work in progress....

2. The 90 elbow attachment is a pain.  I realized that if it leaking around the zerk a bit that does not mean it is also not going into the fitting.  I think before I was stopping immediately if I saw any leakage.  I also realized that it does not have to be totally tight to work.  I just tightened it as much as I could.

3.  Most of the zerks can be greased without the 90 degree fitting.  The primary connector can be a bit off 90% to work.

4.  It was hard to pull the trigger and find the fittings at the very top of the axle.  I think an old fashion attachment without a trigger would be easier.

5.  I am going to change the zerks to 90 degrees.

I can't thank you all enough.....

 

Larry

[BoondockingAirstream]

When you break a ZERK trying to grease the leaf spring bolts... they are METRIC. Cost about 25 cents each.  Do not have the receipt handy, but bought two, one for a spare.  When the top of the ZERK breaks, you can easily remove the threaded part... take it into the Hardware store than has everything... they will look at it and find them.  Buy two or more. Save yourself some looking around.

I found it 'easier' to remove the each wheel to get a straight shot at the zerk by jacking up each side for access and removing each wheel.  The pressure to get any grease into the bolt causes grease to accumulate on the Zerk.  Some you may have to remove the bolt as it must be rusted from wear and then clogs it up.  Buy eight Leaf Spring bolts and nuts and start from scratch.  That will be my next 'adventure'.

These bolts that the Leaf Springs are attached are more likely to break than take any grease or attempt to remove them and salvage the bolts and nuts.  The grease gun broke and they are guaranteed for life trying to get the grease into the bushings.  Got a free replacement and did what I could. A good grease gun is not cheap.  The tolerance between the bolt and leaf spring must be tight.  More grease came out of the Zerk and Grease Gun fitting... than entered the shaft of the bolt.

Next attempt... Buy replacement bolts and nuts and clean up the leaf spring hole, that the bolt goes into.  Need to watch a video of someone doing it.  The best method so far, for me... remove the wheel.  Take a nap and go for the other side.  A Big.... PIA.

 

[jd1923]

4 hours ago, BoondockingAirstream said:

I found it 'easier' to remove the each wheel to get a straight shot at the zerk by jacking up each side for access and removing each wheel...

Exactly, this is why I have not changed Zerks to 90s or turned the bolts inside out so the Zerks point to the inside (not crawling under either). I would rather jack up one side, use the air gun and quickly remove both wheels. Inspect each tire and remove any gravel. Check the brake action and tighten adjusters if needed. Check the wheel bearings and repack only if needed.

Then without the weight of the wheels and tires, and a basic grease gun pointed straight on, all 8 Zerks take grease easily. Clean off all excess grease and replace caps on the fittings. When this final step is ignored, the fittings can get stuck and then use a thin punch to push ball end in Zerk, remove fitting to clean if really bad. Remount wheels and work the other side!

Edited July 6 by jd1923

[rideadeuce]

Read lots of good information and experience above.

I have never used this but I have thought about it many times with a plugged Zerk. 

https://locknlube.com/products/grease-buster?variant=32921003327572

 

This grease gun with high volume vs high pressure mode works well too

https://locknlube.com/collections/grease-guns/products/professional-series-dual-mode-pistol-grip-grease-gun?variant=40111323349076

Best, 

Mike

 

Edited July 7 by rideadeuce

[Boudicca908]

I have been following this thread (when I log onto the computer)... I learned to grease my zerks last year during my first "long" trip. No problems. But this year, when I greased them, there were 2 that did not accept the grease the way I expected. 

Thank you to all the members of the Oliver Family who help those of us who are learning. This thread is very helpful.