Dexter EZ-Flex zerks not accepting grease

[ScubaRx]

On 8/26/2024 at 11:45 AM, jd1923 said:

Our longest time away is 4 weeks. With all the Oliver work I do at home (upgrades all summer!), I'll leave the big tools in my garage and enjoy the short time we get away.

We're leaving to the Texas Rally 2 weeks early to spend time in the White Mountains of AZ and then Lincoln NF of NM. A week plus in The Hill Country, Inks Lake and South Llano River SP. Another week to 10 days on our return, to Marfa TX and Davis Mountains SP. Lastly Silver City NM on our return home. We'll go from home to Central TX and back without any travel on Interstates. I'll have some basic tools, though do not plan on using them. I'll deal with Zerks, and other maintenance, before and after! 🤣

Are you guys coming to Quartzsite next Jan/Feb?

 

[rich.dev]

7 minutes ago, ScubaRx said:

Are you guys coming to Quartzsite next Jan/Feb?

We will be there from mid Nov to Feb/March next year, first time! 🙂 

[jd1923]

4 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

😂Are you guys coming to Quartzsite next Jan/Feb?

 

Only to meet up with you Steve! Last Jan, given my work schedule and me being new here, I got to Quartzsite the last day you and @Mike and Carol were there (learned this from a later post) and the next day I drove by some "Fiberglass TT Meet" 🤣 Only to find a lot of lame Casita type TTs. Chris and I kept our heads down and quickly thought, let's "Get out of Dodge!"

After a night in the northern section of the AZ BLM LTVA, we headed to Wickenburg for much better boondocking by Vulture Mountain and to enjoy a good restaurant that cannot be found in Quartzsite. We should meet up next year.

@rich.dev unless you're into large communal camps, thousands of Canadians (wonderful people and country, but who in their right mind would live up there in the winter!), the hippies we knew back in the 70s and the near homeless yep, Quartzsite is the place!

If you have 2 months, first come to Prescott and you'll never want to go back to the Q. I already mentioned Wickenburg. Stay at ANY off the Maricopa County parks. Go to Parker AZ and stay at Buckskin Mountain State Park | Arizona (azstateparks.com)

Need dental work? Visit Los Algodones and you can stay here for $10 a night: Home - Quechan Casino Resort (playqcr.com) while you visit Mexico (this border is still safe).

I can go on and on for days. Yep, Quartzsite is cool if you want to stay for weeks, have an off-grid setup, meet up with old friends that you met there years ago, but instead you can spend time ANYWHERE else in the wonderful state off Arizona. 

In four weeks, we are going to have a visit from an Oliver owner. We have never met another Oliver owner. So much looking forward to this visit and y'all are welcome too! 

[MAX Burner]

@ScubaRx:  I'll be there with the Knuckleheads, same as last year - same location, Steve?

[ScubaRx]

On 8/28/2024 at 7:30 AM, MAX Burner said:

@ScubaRx:  I'll be there with the Knuckleheads, same as last year - same location, Steve?

I really like it down on the lower flat better than up on Oliver Ridge. The ridge got its name because all the Oliver's formerly parked up there. The last few years there's been some a$$hole redneck in a motor home parked on the lower flat across the way and harasses all the other campers with threats. @Mountainman198 went over and spoke with him and he calmed down somewhat. When you find out what the '198' means you'll understand. (It's not his weight).

All in all, it makes no real difference to me. If we're all parked near each other, it will be a great time. For those that haven't been, I have the GPS coordinates for Dome Rock where we will be camping.

I'll start a Quartzsite 2025 roster:

1 - Steve and Tali Landrum Hull #050 Tupelo, MS

2 - Art and Diane FLYNN Hull #226 Placitas, NM

3 - I’ll be back. Lance Smeltekop Hull #898 Nederland,CO and Traverse City, MI

Edited August 29 by ScubaRx

[MAX Burner]

8 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

I'll start a Quartzsite 2025 roster:

1 - Steve and Tali Landrum Hull #050 Tupelo, MS

2 - Art and Diane FLYNN Hull #226 Placitas, NM

[Mountainman198]

5 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

2 - Art and Diane FLYNN Hull #226 Placitas, NM

3 - I’ll be back. Lance Smeltekop Hull #898 Nederland,CO and Traverse City, MI

[jd1923]

On 8/22/2024 at 11:35 PM, ScubaRx said:

Bite the bullet, and buy the one with the charger, battery and case. Especially if you plan to carry it with you on trips. Exchange the coupler for a LockNLube and you are better than good to go.

I'm not going to get the nice case. An extra battery is always good, but we have enough. This eBay seller had this item for $200 with a Labor Day 20% coupon. Today I got a notification they lowered the price to $160, only $128 plus tax:

DEWALT DCGG571B 20V MAX Variable Speed Cordless Grease Gun (Tool Only) New 885911330381 | eBay

Bought one today! $141.35 OTD with AZ sales tax. I'll find a plastic bin for it when sitting in my garage, not bringing it on trips. And a thank you to @mossemi who got me thinking about this. I will grease truck and trailer after I get this and before we leave for the Texas Rally in October.

[jd1923]

On 8/22/2024 at 11:35 PM, ScubaRx said:

Bite the bullet, and buy…

This weekend I installed a HP Billet Alum water pump on our Ram.  The WP is one known weakness of the stock Cummins.

New antifreeze, changed oil and filter, new air filter too. Jacked up the front to make getting under her easier. Lastly, I greased the front end using the new Dewalt with LockNLube fitting.

Adam walked by, “what’s that?” (He has a half dozen Dewalt power tools.) nothing cooler than a power grease gun, btw.

TV ready to head to Tejas! 🤣

[jd1923]

Just found this today and could have used it yesterday! To grease the inner tie rods on my truck, I had to turn the steering all the way left to get the driver side and then all the way right to get the passenger side. I really dislike crawling under a truck and not having everything I need. Crawl out, back in, again and again. It's getting harder on the older body!

Next time, I'll have this and perhaps it will allow me to grease the Oliver with the wheels on. Glad to see LockNLube makes this. Just bought one! Amazon.com: LockNLube 90 Degree Grease Coupler Adapter : Automotive

[SeaDawg]

Yes. Those are really nice, and many of us have them, @jd1923

Thanks for the update, as it's been reported before, but newcomers don't always look at older posts.

None of us have bodies that are getting "younger", unfortunately.  A few $$ to ease the process is often appreciated. 

[Boudicca908]

Yesterday it was time again for my Zerks to be greased.  I asked my cousin to take a look at my L-shaped fitting, and advise me whether I was using it incorrectly (it didn't seem to engage the zerk the way the straight-line one did). He found that a spring inside it was stuck, and fixed it for me -- but it still didn't engage as easily, and I reverted to using the straight-line fitting that came with my grease gun.  

I was able to get this task done in 2 hours, including the time I take to haul out my tools and grease and then put everything away -- a record for me. I think it just took time for me to get to know the feel of those hidden zerks, to be able to connect to them without using a mirror or the L-shaped fitting. Happy Day!  

[jd1923]

Got a chance to lube the Oliver today. Using the Dewalt power grease gun and the LockNLube with 90-degree adapter, took me 40 minutes total. Had one stuck Zerk that a flat punch freed up quickly. One Zerk at the top of the EZ-Flex is hard to get to, but it just made it. The power tool and 90-fitting made the job so much easier (after 40+ years doing it the old way)!

[Steve and Cindy]

I didn't see anyone answer from one of the commenters about this situation where the grease does not flow across and come out the opposite side from the zerk.   (I borrowed this awesome photo).    I ran into this issue yesterday on the rear-most leaf spring bolt. Is this this a case where I need to remove and replace the bolt?  I have about 7000 miles on the trailer.  

Edited Sunday at 11:03 PM by Steve and Cindy

[Ronbrink]

13 hours ago, Steve and Cindy said:

Is this this a case where I need to remove and replace the bolt?

Did you take pressure off the bolt by lifting up the trailer? You could also try rotating the bolt in place to see if it will then accept grease. 

[Steve and Cindy]

I did try it both lifted and unlifted, and I can try rotating the bolt.  Pulling the bolt entirely is a more involved undertaking I was hoping to avoid.  

Edited Monday at 12:39 PM by Steve and Cindy

[jd1923]

17 hours ago, Steve and Cindy said:

I borrowed this awesome photo

The photo shows, by the old stain on the leaf, that it has always bled this way. The grease will come out the path of less resistance. Just as long as you know a few pumps of grease were pumped, you should be good. This pic looks like as soon as grease is pumped, the same amount comes out immediately.

[FloraFauna]

This string reminded me that I had not greased the zerks on top of the Dexter axle castings.  I proceeded to do so and was on the last side, the last zerk and I reached for it to put grease gun on, and the zerk came off in my hand!!  It didn't appear to be broken off.  I attempted to rethread it back on but that was extremely difficult and couldn't get it to take.  I then removed one front wheel to get better access and decided to put in a new zerk.  There was no evidence that the original zerk had broken but if it had the lack of access there would have made extraction very difficult. Also there is insufficient clearance with the trailer to run a die to reestablish the threads at least with the tools that I have.  I shudder to think but it seems you would have to lift the trailer off the axle to get sufficient clearance to rethread those zerk holes. Furthermore, the original zerk had very short threads, perhaps because the Dexter casting is not very thick. To make a longer story, shorter, I did manage to get a new zerk in tight.  I doubt the threads are well established but the new zerk seems threaded in at this point.  That zerk will get TLC from this point on because the alternatives for repair look pretty ugly.  Also after three months or 3000 miles I find the zerks will take only minor amounts of grease before it oozes out of the joints.