F11Engineer

I'm doing the 15K maintenance on my 2500 4X4. The book says to "Lubricate outer tie rod ends 2500/3500 (4X4) models only"

Anyone know if I have to have special grease or is the stuff my buddy has in his grease gun he uses for his Jeep acceptable?

Thanks,

kry226

Just make sure the grease you use matches the rating called for in the owner's manual. I want to say a GL-5 rating, but not sure and the manual isn't handy right now. I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

MonkeyLips

GL-1 through GL-5 generally applies to gear lube requirements (front & rear diffs, & manual transmissions).

The tie rod ends, linkages, & ball joints should require NLGI #2 Grease. I use Amsoil Heavy Duty Synthetic grease for tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearings; just about anything with a zirk fitting. I've found that those parts last at least 2 or 3x longer with that grease.

Try the link below for more information.

http://www.amsoil.com/products/ghd.html

kry226

I was thinking gear lube. I'm a retard sometimes. I have only read about the grease ratings half a dozen times. Just couldn't remember last night. I also like synthetic grease.

Lightman

F11, do a search, I made a post nearly identical to this a few weeks ago with several replies. I ended up buying a tube of amsoil synthetic grease, and at 15k will be switching to amsoil in the diffs, xfer case, and tie rods....

Nobody really discussed dosages though, I guess just a few squirts will do it, how much guys ? Can you overdo it and hurt seals etc?

MonkeyLips

My typical dose is 3-5 squirts, but I increase this until I can feel some resistance (empty or near empty tie rod or ball joint). With U-joints, 3 is usually about right for normal maint. Stop as soon as you hear the seals kind of crackel. WIth most ball joints and tie rods, excess grease will flow out without any damage; just kind of messy.

One key point to remember: clean off all zirks before greasing (paper towels work great). Otherwise that grit on top of the fitting ends up inside the unit causing increased wear. I clean the zirks off after greasing as well - not as messy & dirty for the next service.

F11Engineer

Thanks, all. Appreciate the insight and complete answers. Guess I'll just use what my buddy has in the gun this time, then switch to AMSOIL next time -- not sure where to get AMSOIL in San Diego area, so I guess I'll order it online.
Thanks again.

Lightman

How many zerks are there? I only saw two, on the tie rods....

MonkeyLips

Should be 1 per tie rod, 1 on each upper ball joint, then some scattered about on the steering linkages. The lower ball joints on DC rigs are usually non-greasable. I haven't done the front end zerks yet, so I'm not 100% sure. I guessing there are 8 or 12 different zerks (typical).

Lightman

Could anyone with a 3rd gen who has greased their zerks reply? I have only seen 2.

jkwy33

I was told by a tech at the dealership that there were only 4 zerks to grease. 2 on the tierods and 2??? Its been to chillly to craw under my pickup and find the other 2.

Jeff in TD

I only find 2 fittings, on the outer tie rod ends. I just went outside (in a rainstorm) and double checked the ball joints, no zerks. If there are others, I've never found them, but I might not be the be the world's greatest zerk detector.

Also, the manual says to lube the two tie rod ends...tending to suggest those are all there is.

If someone knows different, I'd sure like to know. Time to go towel off...

kry226

I agree with Jeff, there's only two.

RamDan03

I've only found two personally. They were the ones for the tie rod ends.

bulabula

I think I'm one of those two guys. I give them (both tie rods) a couple of squirts of the grease gun with semi-syn grease in it at every other oil change. I use semi-syn because thats whats in one of my grease guns right now. I think Jack said there's a PN in the owners manual for the correct grease, but I'm not convinced its necessary to change over one of my guns yet.

I have another grease gun with marine grease in it but don't want to waste it on something other than outdrives or boat trailers.