08 Sierra Ball Joints

[DanS]

Newbie question, but for those of you who look after your own maintenance two questions:

 

Is it just me or are there only two (one on each side) ball joints with grease nipples on them?

 

Second, if in fact the other joints don't have nipples, how do you guys go about greasing them?

 

thanks in advance. Any other tips are welcome.

[MS3DALE]

There are only two grease fittings,The outer tie rod ends,Stupidly enough the engineers at GM didn't think any were needed for the ball joints,So there are NO grease fittings on any of the ball joints on the 1/2-ton GMT900 trucks

[MS3DALE]

BTW....GM also tried the "none greasable ball-joints" on the GMT400 trucks when they first came out in '88.....It wasn't long before they recalled them and we had to replace'em all

[Daryl LBZ]

BTW....GM also tried the "none greasable ball-joints" on the GMT400 trucks when they first came out in '88.....It wasn't long before they recalled them and we had to replace'em all

 

 

 

 

Yea they probably won't recall them because they are tight wads now...

[DanS]

Hmm....

 

Thanks for the quick replies guys, other than greasing the tie-rod ends every 5000k or so, should I do anything to these so called greaseless fittings?

[MS3DALE]

Nope,Not much you can do,Although I think someone on here did use a needle type grease fitting on his grease gun,and pierced a hole in his ball joint boots in order to grease them,I'm not quite ready to do that for fear of water getting in the hole.

[DamageInc]

BTW....GM also tried the "none greasable ball-joints" on the GMT400 trucks when they first came out in '88.....It wasn't long before they recalled them and we had to replace'em all

 

Yep, I remember it well. I believe we replaced them for free up to 100,000 miles. You would think that there would be people at GM who remember that, and that it would be cheaper to add a zerk than to replace ball joints for free, but apparently not.....

[Daryl LBZ]

BTW....GM also tried the "none greasable ball-joints" on the GMT400 trucks when they first came out in '88.....It wasn't long before they recalled them and we had to replace'em all

 

Yep, I remember it well. I believe we replaced them for free up to 100,000 miles. You would think that there would be people at GM who remember that, and that it would be cheaper to add a zerk than to replace ball joints for free, but apparently not.....

 

 

 

 

 

They should have fired some of the brain dead engineers when they got rid of the other people too.

[C. Charles Hahn]

Nope,Not much you can do,Although I think someone on here did use a needle type grease fitting on his grease gun,and pierced a hole in his ball joint boots in order to grease them,I'm not quite ready to do that for fear of water getting in the hole.

 

You could always squirt in grease, then put some RTV or other adhesive sealant over the hole you make....

[brims]

Duct tape! Woohoo!

[khancock]

Duct tape! Woohoo!

After just replacing both upper ball joints at under 35k I'm pretty sure duct tape and rubber cement would be a significant improvement!!!

 

(I'm sure the leveling kit didn't help... )

[Bish]

I'm one that puts a pinhole in them with a needle tip. Honestly, I can barely find the hole the next time I do it. I figure as long as I keep the firm with grease , there will be little opportunity for water migration. I'm also with the others that cannot believe they went to non greasable ball joints. Bad Idea. I'd rather have some grease in there and take a chance on water getting in rather than letting them dry out and fail....Six in one and a half dozen in the other I suppose.

[MS3DALE]

I'm one that puts a pinhole in them with a needle tip. Honestly, I can barely find the hole the next time I do it. I figure as long as I keep the firm with grease , there will be little opportunity for water migration. I'm also with the others that cannot believe they went to non greasable ball joints. Bad Idea. I'd rather have some grease in there and take a chance on water getting in rather than letting them dry out and fail....Six in one and a half dozen in the other I suppose.

 

aah ha...your the one