Another Stuck Tag Axle

[Scott & Heather]

I've read some of your painful stories about stuck tags. Drivers side is stuck almost fully in the up position. Tried speed bumps, tried a jack between the two chain hooks...greased the living daylights out of the pivot (using three fittings...only found three) and still no go. Story of my life..

[robertglines1]

Lots of things left to try.  try to force oil in there. Part of the problem is old dried out grease and rust.  Take your grease fittings out and make sure they are passing grease.  Ream out what old grease you can out of their hole.  Oil will help release/break up the old grease mess better than straight grease.  No easy way here.  Heat works some what but you must be careful. Lots can go wrong there.  They make a grease driver you fill and hit with a hammer. I got mine at a local parts house years ago.  Puts out unreal psi compared to a grease gum. Autzone and the like won't have them. Maybe Napa.  Good Luck!  Been there done that.--changed bushings---would pass on that job.  Bob

[Len Silva]

Scott,

I have not dealt with that particular tag axle problem but I have worked on lots of old iron that had been seized up for years.  My solution is to remove the Zerks and replace with whatever cobbled up pipe fittings it takes to connect a 5 foot length of hose.  Fill the hose with the solvent of your choice (I like acetone or lacquer thinner), connect it to shop air and just let it sit for days or weeks as needed.  Once it starts flowing, replace the solvent with oil and try to move the stuck piece.

It has worked for me for years.

[luvrbus]

99.9% of the time the brass bushing has closed the point where grease entered drill baby like Bob said and hope for the best I remove the zerts and use heat and PB for safety remove the zerts before heating the will blow out with heat there has been people killed with grease zerts

[Scott & Heather]

Great advice here! Going to try all of this! Bob, I've actually heard of those grease drivers...trying to prevent messing with the bushings at the moment  That's a piece of work...took out the grease fittings and they are passing grease. I squeezed enough grease into them to have it squirt out the seams of the bushing. Len, I really like your concept too...very different from anything I've ever heard before but I can conceptualize the effectiveness of this system. I don't have the time to do that this trip (headed North in 4 days) but if I can't unstick the tag, I'll do it for sure in Wisconsin this summer. My coach weighs in about 26 or 27,000 so I'm not going to kill myself with a single lifted tag for the trip. But I love this idea...Cliff, are you kidding when you say Zerks have killed people when popping off from applied heat? Are you serious? Is that possible?

[luvrbus]

Sure they can Scott when I was a young man working after school at a Cat dealer in Houston Tx ( Mustang Tractor) a season veteran was heating a track adjuster on a dozer the grease zert blew out and killed him, all my life I have remembered that so I remove any grease zert where I am using heat JMW

good luck

[robertglines1]

keep pushing grease thru if you can til you get fresh grease out. then try jack again.  once it starts working hopefully it will continue to function.  Good luck flushing the old hard stuff out.   Bob

[Scott & Heather]

Unbelievable. Sobering. I guess it's like a bullet. Are the bushings entirely metal at the pivot? Will I melt any rubber or poly bushing if I use heat? Bob I put in grease until it squeezed out. It has grease now so I think it just needs broken free at this point.


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[Dave5Cs]

What is the difference between a Zert and Zerk they both show up on Google as the same thing. I had always heard Zerk?

Dave5Cs

[Len Silva]

What is the difference between a Zert and Zerk they both show up on Google as the same thing. I had always heard Zerk?

Dave5Cs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_fitting
The patent for the Zerk fitting was granted to Oscar U. Zerk in January 1929, and the assignee was the Alemite Manufacturing Corporation[1] (thus the eponymous names for the fittings). Today many companies make these grease fittings.

[luvrbus]

Dave 1 of those deals like catsup or ketchup my granddad always ask for Alemite fittings at the farm supply and they knew what he wanted they would just ask what type and size he always used the button head on about everything that was hard to take grease.

I do the same then replace the button head with the regular type Zerk or Zert lol

[bevans6]

I usually pump in Marvel Mystery Oil, it's thin and has a solvent effect and cleans as well.  You'd be amazed at what can kill you.  A friend of mine was wrapping a load with a bungee cord and it came loose, snapped back and hit him on the chest.  Normally you'd curse a bit and start over - it collapsed his lung, had to get an ambulance to the hospital, and it did almost kill him.  Crazy...

Brian

[Scott & Heather]

I'll just stick with "that them there greasin' fittin's"

Brian, that's amazing...fluke stuff. When it's your time, it's your time. simply amazing...a bungee cord. who knew? Going to try to work the tag tomorrow again. Today was out since I was helping grandma with her yard work. Priorities I guess...she's sweeter than chocolate and completely oblivious to my short time schedule in getting out of here Sunday morning...with a stuck tag, loose muffler, and a host of things to buy...

[Lin]

Just a bit off here.  I recently had bought some bungee cords at Home Depot.  There were 13 or 14 warnings on the package.  At first, I thought it was really funny but after thinking on it a bit, realized that bungees can be dangerous.  When pulling one tight, you will notice you are almost always directly in the line of fire if it slips loose.  I have heard the eye injuries are pretty common.

[Dave5Cs]

luvrbus and Len, thanks for the info on zerks/Zerts/Alemite fittings. I had always known them as Zerks. Ah the things I learn here from you's guys is staggering, LOL

Dave5Cs