Non BX grease question!

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cavmad
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Non BX grease question!

Post by cavmad »

Sorry it`s not BX related but I desperately need to grease the kingpins on my (Mercedes 609D) recovery truck. Sleepy has kindly pointed out where the grease nipples are and I`m going to buy a hand grease gun to do the job later.
My question is what kind of grease would be best suited for the job: do I need a high melting point grease or will any old grease do?
Thanks in advance,
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Any "good ole fashion" grease will do. For CV-joints, bearings, axles etc. May be the black MOS2 specie - or the Opaque/yellow type - whatever you have in workshop - or can find in your local store.

Even "farmers best all purpose" will do :lol:
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Geoffrey Gould
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Grease

Post by Geoffrey Gould »

As Anders said Good old farmers grease. LS EP2. Sticky and extream pressure and best of all resists being washed out with water. A good allround grease.
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cavmad
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Post by cavmad »

Thanks Anders, Geoff. Have bought some budget all purpose grease from Halfords along with a grease gun and have done the job now. Seems slighty easire to steer now though perhaps I need to let it run through and settle in a bit before I notice any real difference? I`m thinking perhaps a good run out and some tight country lanes will see it settle a little bit?
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sleepy0905
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Post by sleepy0905 »

Billy have a check if it has a steering box then it may have oil in or in your case may not have a word at a commercial vehicle place they may be able to tell you the good old Sherpa was terrible for loosing its oil out of the steering box and you ended up needing geof capes to help you turn it. :D
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cavmad
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Post by cavmad »

Thanks Sleepy, I`ll check that out. As you correctly pointed out you need to be a pro weight lifting champ to move it at low speeds.
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Post by jeremy »

The trick with greasing is to make sure the stuff gets where its supposed to. This sounds obvious but some steering mechanisms have thrust washers or bearings which carry in fact carry the weight of the vehicle. The trick here is to jack under the suspension or chassis so that the wheel and hub assembly drops and with luck the grease can get where it really is needed.

It can be difficult and i knew a very experienced mechanic who reconed for difficult bearings he'd put oil in the gun (fun as the feed spring will pump it out on its own - he must have had a different type of gun!) and try and get that to circulate.

To grease properly you must get the old stuff out and you know that you have done this when some new comes out as well.

If your steering box is stiff be very careful! It will probably be a recirculating ball one and I had one of these disintegrate on my Hillman Hunter and jam the steering on left lock!
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Post by cavmad »

If your steering box is stiff be very careful! It will probably be a recirculating ball one and I had one of these disintegrate on my Hillman Hunter and jam the steering on left lock![/quote]


:shock: Thanks mate :D :cry:
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Post by jeremy »

The Hunter steering box problem was fortunately more funny than dangerous - as it failed as I turned into the office car park - and I had to get someone to move his car so that i could clear the entrance and find a place to dump it.

I did get some warning - it would sometimes get very stiff and creaked a lot. It was one of those things that came up during the week and I was going to look at it at the weekend.

I even had a spare in stock on a spare car! - could have been much worse!
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cavmad
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Post by cavmad »

Time to book my truck in with a cracking fella I know who is a wizard with trucks and engines, mostly Perkins. I`ll get him to go right through it and replace what`s needed as it`ll pay for itself in a short time anyhow.
No creaks from the steering btw, just very stiff at very low speeds. Once on the move there`s no discernable problem though. I have sent grease through until new grease became visible coming out of the bottom of the joint thingy.
Like I say perhaps a good run out will help the new grease do it`s job?
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Post by jeremy »

I've been surprised on many occasions just how much lighter steering becomes when new front tyres are fitted - a few more pounds pressure can also make quite a difference.
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Post by cavmad »

Sorry, forgot to mention that. Things improved after the n/s/f blew out in the p*ss*ng rain a few weeks ago. Had a new tyre fitted and later checked pressure of the one on t`other side. A full 25 psi below what it should have been :shock:
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Post by M »

I always noticed a real difference in the ADO16 / Mini / Metro / Marina when I "greased the nipples" - esp the fronts - I also took to injecting oil into the ball joints on the metro (using a 50ml syringe and white 30 guage needle) - made a big difference too.
I found the lack of grease points on later cars odd at first.
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