found my steering problem

[bevans6]

I found my steering problem, now I have to fix it.  The upper kingpin grease nipple on the LH side wouldn't take grease when I lubed it.  I borrowed the Snap-On pitman arm puller from my neighbour and popped off the drag link and tie rod, and sure enough the king pin is stiff as all get out.  I am hoping that persistence and a portapower will force some lube into the joint, and then working it will loosen it up.  The kingpins are new 8 years and 35K miles ago.

Brian

[JohnEd]

NO NO NO!!!  Clifford had a "gizmo" that you screw into the fitting.  It has a piston affair and you smack the gizmo with a hammer and you get God awful amts of hydraulic pressure for only a short while.  The pressure is enough to force a golf ball thru a garden hose so you get the part greased. The only thing you have to take apart is the "zeurkke" fitting and screud the part in.  Hope that's clear....call Clifurd.

John mostly

[bevans6]

Completely clear, but I don't have clear access to the fitting, the brake spider is directly in front of it.  My hammer smack would be at 45 degrees to the hole, and any reasonable smack would probably shear the little 1/8" pipe attachment into the knuckle.  I would have to take off the hub, the drum, and the brake spider to get access.  I ain't doing that till the escalation of aggravation requires it!  I'll try pumping hydraulic fluid in after pumping grease in with a direct connect fitting (eliminating the zerk fitting) doesn't work.  After that I may try gentle heating of the knuckle to see if that opens it up a tad to get some lube in there.

Brian

[eddiepotts]

I would not try to heat it. You may get lube but it will only be the oil out of the grease. You will end up with a hard soap to get out. Dig out as much old soap as you can and fill with penetrating oil for a day or two. if you can get tubing with 1/8" fittings it will screw into your gun and zerk port. Fill grease gun with penetrating  oil and give it what its got.

[JohnEd]

Brian,

Those hydraulic ram sets have hydraulic fittings to change all the dif heads.  I suspect that one of those will get higher pressure than a hyd system "pump".  That really sounds like he way to go.  I am sure you will tell us all how it went.
Thanks for the idea....really!

John

[bevans6]

Well, job done and the joint is taking grease now.  I went to my hydraulic store, priced out the porta-power pump, and bought a new grease gun instead, along with a high pressure flex hose and a 90 degree 1/8NPT to 1/8NPT adaptor.  Screwed the adaptor in the grease fitting hole on the knuckle, hose to that, grease gun head to that, filled the grease gun up with Marvel Mystery Oil, and started pumping.  A little resistance, and the MMO started working it's way through.  Cycled the steering back and forth a few times to let me pump the MMO around  as much as possible, and switched to grease, pumped that through and cycled the steering some more.  It is still stiffer than I would hope for, but progress is being made!

Brian

[robertglines1]

sometimes the bushing behind the grease zirk rotates a little ...causes grease not to flow....if you have a return of grease don't worry about this fix;;you can use a 1/8 drill dit to make a new hole thru bushing or enlarge partial blockage of hole...pump grease thru till you get a return of new grease will help flush out hardened grease and contimanates...might make steering easier

[eddiepotts]

Not not knowing what kind of grease you are mixing with the MMO I would pump the whole tube through it. Just about ten shots a week until done. Like mixing dino oil with synthetics they do not mix. The grease is a small price to pay for the damage the MMO can do to the grease and leave you dry.

[kyle4501]

Isn't MMO basically perfumed kerosene with some angel dust mixed in for good measure?

I know it works wonders in many situations.
(a quart of oil substituted with MMO at each oil change kept us from having to change a lifter in an Oldsmobile for years. . . . )  

edit to add:
BTW, Mobile says all oils should be compatible with each other. Only possible concern would be a remote chance of some destabilization between the base oil & the additives.

[JohnEd]

What Eddie said.

The grease mfr.s don't even want you to mix brands of grease let alone "types" such as "soap base", boooo, or Aluminum base.  Causes the oil to drop out of suspension and you have some sort of hard stuff left.

I would go with full synthetic as if you didn't grease again for ten years that stuff won't be hard...if there is any left.  But, it won't be the problem itself.  It is slipery and it will provide superior oxid. protection but if you are greasing monthly, like the big truckers and bus garages you have nothing to worry about with Dino.  Not a single thing.  Get it

John

[eddiepotts]

Yes it is but it will break down the soaps in the grease and it will let loose of the oils. Inturn you end up with no lubrication in the grease.

[kyle4501]

Yep, Grease is not a simple thing anymore, the soap bases have changed & usually improved much over the years.

Flushing it out is a good idea so you can remove as much of the old, dried out soap base as possible.

[JohnEd]

Eddie makes a good point....and I thought I did, but.  You have to flush all the old grease out when you don't know what was in there.  And grease again at ashort interval the first time.

This isn't panic situation, however.  Only the junk mfr.s use a grease that has a rapid reaction.  The name brand stuff doesn't want a "grease failure" for any reason so their stuff is at least tolerant, for a while, of slight mixing.  If you buy a bus and don't know what the PO used or you don't remember what YOU used the last time.....you need to HEED the label and flush the old stuff out.   Then there is the label I have seen that states "compatible with most quality greases".

I still say Syn is best and if any engineer out there knows otherwise I hope you speak up cause I hate "stay'n stupid".

John

[bevans6]

Well, I put half a tube through and I will continue to work it and grease it a lot until it loosens up.  It's about half as tight as before, but stiff fairly stiff.  I'm using a valvoline synthetic that I happened to have a tube of in a gun.

I took the opportunity to check the centering of the steering box.  It's a half to three quarters turn of the wheel out.  That won't have been helping anything either.

Brian

[eddiepotts]

John, you made it clear I was just typing my two cents when you were posting