I prefer that every u-joint, front suspension component and ball joint be greasable so I don't have to replace them like I do now for customers on a regular basis. On the other hand, I make a good living changing out all that sealed for life stuff that really does not last "for life."
Just ask the customer who got four new ball joints on his 2012 F350 with 105K on it and the other last week that has a F550 chassis cab 2WD with 43K that got all new u-joints in his three piece driveshaft. Everything was changed to greasable too BTW

Under the most ideal of conditions, maybe such items last, but in the real world of rain, salt, dirt, etc they do not - I have a whole scrap bin full of sealed Ford parts to prove it.

 

What type of grease is recommended?

 

You are absolutely correct. Over greasing sealed bearings is going to cause failure. However none of the bearings on a truck front end having grease fittings are sealed bearings. Only the "U" joint bearings are sealed... and bearings. Needle bearings to be exact. Everything else is ball joints. Or king pins which are not bearings at all. But rather bushings . When the sealed bearings in your electric motor fail. Its still not the bearing which failed. Its that the heavy handed grease monkey pushed grease into the motor. And the motor failed. I am positive the bearings were still functioning perfectly. Thantil clean greas pushes out. Therefore pushing out all the water. You might make a mess of things but you will never cause a ball joint to fail by over greasing. Just my 2 cents. ball joints and bushings in the truck front end may not seal out water after a while. You grease these

 

Im not sure what happened to my reply. But I was saying that you can push the water out of a ball joint until clean grease pushes out. Also high quality NLGI 2 synthetic grease used a few pumps every 2500 miles will result in nearly indefinite ball joint life. Sealed ball joints are nothing more that greasable ball joints without grease fittings. They will need to be replaced. When I replace them it will be with greasable joints.
No offense but just my experience with heavy truck and equipment ownership and fleet maintenance.

 

I didn't know about the grease fittings; thanks!

I'm on the fence on which is better; the sealed u joints on my 1998 k1500 lasted 300k before I realized they had been worn out for a while (felt a vibration).

In the service, I squirted gallons and gallons of grease into Christy suspension systems; "pump until the old grease quits coming out". I never knew if all the grease was causing a failure...I've seen plenty of torn boots on tie rod ends tho; supposedly caused by too much grease.

So, which grease is best for those front jerts on a SD?

Tacky Red, Lithium, or...?

Thanks

 

it may not be a big deal in our application but its been said plenty of times that sealed are stronger, given comparable sized joints

greasable have different style boots. call them less water tight, if you will. manufacturers expect that some debris will get in and that the debris will get pushed out when you grease them at the recomended intervals. if the boot sealed too well, you wouldnt be able to push any grease out. sealed are, well, sealed much better with a different boot design

often times when people lube a joint, grease only spurts out one or two of the bearing caps. any debris in the other two caps is still in there causing havoc

i think many people are very misguided / misinformed about sealed vs non

 

So for the guy asking what type of grease to use. We are currently using Lucas Extra HD NLGI 2 grease in all trucks and equipment. Its green. It stays. Use a few pumps. Often. maybe once between oil changes and at oil change. Grease is cheap compared to components. Really everything everyone has had to say here is correct. The sealed maint. free joints are likely sealed a bit better. I dont know if they are stronger. But I still think properly greased "greasable" joints will out last them even if you blow out a boot. Often you can re seat the ball joint boots once the excessive grease runs out. Water is the big issue. The C-V joint boots in a GM independent front end wear out and get tears in them. Ive just kept them greased with high quality grease and theyve been fine. The guy talking about the electric motor bearings is correct too. But its a different situation. The excessive grease gets into the motor and screws up the motor. Many of them call for very limited greasing. Like once a year. If you get someone greasing it every week they will damage the motor for sure. I think for most of a truck front end you cant over grease anything. Youll make a mess. Blow out part of a boot. But not hurt anything. As far as bearings are concerned the only actual bearing anyone is greasing in a truck are the U joints. Everything else is a bushing or a ball joint. The rod ends are ball joints as well.