No Grease 2020 Chevy 2500WT Duramax

kylant · January 10, 2021

how many zerks? 9?

BB&Chiveon · January 11, 2021

9

(2) outer tie rod ends
(2) upper ball joints
(2) lower ball joints
(1) top of pitman arm at the center link side of the arm
(1) top of idler arm pivot bracket
(1) top of idler arm at the center link side of the arm

Edited January 11, 2021 by BB&Chiveon

Dunn · January 12, 2021

i remember seeing this and just few weeks ago i bought a grease gun and i checked my truck........almost dry, nothing to speak of....there is one zerk with coolant or AC hoses were blocking me from getting the fitting on there so ill have to find another way next oil change......so i got 8 out of the 9.....think i used half a tube or more (some wasted from not being squared up to nipple) but still.....

are there any other zerks for driveline or etc i need to be aware of

BTW: my brother just bought a 2019 HD and i told him about mine so he checked and same deal.....almost completely dry

Z45 · January 12, 2021

On 6/3/2020 at 1:49 AM, davester said:

This isn't a union thing. This is a bean-counter thing.

GM demands the parts be as cheap as possible, and skimping on grease is one way to do it. The assembly line is setup with the assumption the parts are pre-greased sufficiently, so there is no greasing station that the union workers are just ignoring.

It has just enough grease to get it out of warranty. For GM, that's good enough.

Exactly. A board of directors, heavy bureaucracy, and industry constraints bind large companies. Their primary goal is to maximize shareholder profits which conflicts with the idea of bringing the highest quality product to market.

kylant · January 12, 2021

17 hours ago, BB&Chiveon said:

9

(2) outer tie rod ends

(2) upper ball joints

(2) lower ball joints

(1) top of pitman arm at the center link side of the arm

(1) top of idler arm pivot bracket

(1) top of idler arm at the center link side of the arm

thanks, that's what i counted as well

tbully · January 13, 2021

Anyone have pictures or location tutorials for the final three? I imagine these may the more difficult ones to find that don't or haven't spent a lot of time around suspension components....

Dunn · January 13, 2021

2 hours ago, tbully said:

Anyone have pictures or location tutorials for the final three? I imagine these may the more difficult ones to find that don't or haven't spent a lot of time around suspension components....

.look at all parts related to steering componets....i didnt really know where they were but i just looked for them and knew theyre were 3, i found them fairly easy.....pitman and idler arms......maybe someone has a pic......my first HD so bit different

20gmctruckguy · January 18, 2021

Thanks for bringing this issue to light. Now I will need to go have a look at mine. Hopefully I can find all 9 fittings! Usually they are pretty easy to figure out...anywhere there is a rotating part or a hinge point there should be a zerk fitting.

Brings up another point. I remember installing a grease zerk into the steering shaft on my '05 that I used to have. It helped with the clunk those trucks used to have. Wonder if these new trucks have the same issue?

redwngr · January 18, 2021

19 hours ago, 20gmctruckguy said:

Thanks for bringing this issue to light. Now I will need to go have a look at mine. Hopefully I can find all 9 fittings! Usually they are pretty easy to figure out...anywhere there is a rotating part or a hinge point there should be a zerk fitting.

Brings up another point. I remember installing a grease zerk into the steering shaft on my '05 that I used to have. It helped with the clunk those trucks used to have. Wonder if these new trucks have the same issue?

Steering set-up is different now.

We don't hear about that steering clunk issue on the newer ones.

FWIW, 2010 and earlier had 11. With the new chassis in 2011 2019 there were 9, and it sounds like the new 2020+ chassis is also 9.

20gmctruckguy · January 24, 2021

Well I checked my truck today and sure enough there was little to no grease in the joints. I gave it a good greasing and to make things a bit easier I swapped out the 3 straight zerks on the Pitman arm, idler arm and idler support for some 90 degree ones. Now it's much easier to get a couple onto them and get the grease in. By the way I use a Lock N Lube grease coupler. This is the best coupler ever! Well worth the money. No need to hold it on while you pump.

Pryme · September 9, 2022

After reading this thread and others I decided to get under my truck yet again with under 200mi on it.

I found all 9 zerks and nearly all of them had what appeared to be no real grease. The boots were very deflated on almost all of them. On a brand new truck. I got some good pics to share so others can see.

mine took between 4 and 10 pumps depending on which it was. I didn’t just keep pumping away, I didn’t want to push any out as I wasn’t 100% sure they have the one way flaps, anyone know if they all do?

I put in enough to make the boot appear full but not ready to burst.

I pretty easily got to all 9 with an 18” flexible hose on my pistol grip gun.

here are some pics