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You are correct, I must have been thinking about a different truck, possibly my '17 F-350 SRW.
Give me a tip on how you were able to grease the upper ball joints. I tried four different grease guns/hoses/fittings and could not get on the zerk. I turned the axle shaft in several different positions and tried running the grease gun hose through the middle of the u-joint, no luck. Is there such a thing as a 90 degree grease gun fitting that might work?
It is a pickup.
Yes, it is a bit difficult but using the shortest grease fitting I had, I went up through the axle u-joint. Got it up through there and on the zerk fitting, then rocked the u-joint slightly to find the straightest connection on the zerk. I had a Lock and Lube end on my grease gun which was too long to get on some of the zerks, so I removed it and installed the shorter fitting on my grease gun. And yes, there are 90 degree adapters that would help get this done. Arod has a video of this process which helped get it done.
The lower ball joints will fail first without greasing. Mine started to seize up at around 60k. Audible squeek while turning. I bought some of those hammer in zirks and it's still good now at 270k
it’s possible to hammer in zerks in the OEM lower ball joints?
Yes, it is a bit difficult but using the shortest grease fitting I had, I went up through the axle u-joint. Got it up through there and on the zerk fitting, then rocked the u-joint slightly to find the straightest connection on the zerk. I had a Lock and Lube end on my grease gun which was too long to get on some of the zerks, so I removed it and installed the shorter fitting on my grease gun. And yes, there are 90 degree adapters that would help get this done. Arod has a video of this process which helped get it done. Front end GREASE job - ARE YOU doing IT? #mechanic - YouTube
Thanks, I'm going to give it another shot but I could not get my fitting on as straight as he did. I also took my Saker locking coupler off and went back to the regular one; but, I'll give it another try.
Here is a screen shot from the video showing the problem fitting:
it’s possible to hammer in zerks in the OEM lower ball joints?
I did. The end that faces down was easily drilled in the centre. Basically where you would expect a zirk to be. I added zirks to some of the other components as well.
Just did my 19 yesterday, the uppers were a breeze to lock onto. The only difficult one is the one at the pinion arm. I did find the lower right bellows popped off, and does not fill with grease from the upper, and found no zerk on the lower tie rod fitting, so I got my needle greaser out and injected grease into it and pulled the boot down as much as I could. Looks like I will eventually need to replace the lower right tie rod end. I also found the drivers side ABS sensor on the rear axle is leaking. Need to look into that now too.
I was actually all over my 2019 from front to back earlier today and the only grease zerks I could find were on the front U-joints in the half shafts.
saw a YouTube video that warns the half shafts are commonly missed so I’m going to check mine. I’ve had the dealership do my oil changes, hope they greased these. I’ll shoot some grease in myself. What type of grease should I use? I have lithium & moly lithium loaded in my grease guns. Should I get some type of Ford grease to avoid cross contamination? Thanks
saw a YouTube video that warns the half shafts are commonly missed so I’m going to check mine. I’ve had the dealership do my oil changes, hope they greased these. I’ll shoot some grease in myself. What type of grease should I use? I have lithium & moly lithium loaded in my grease guns. Should I get some type of Ford grease to avoid cross contamination? Thanks
Lithium is fine. In the big picture any grease is better than no grease.
I just did my first oil change yesterday on the 2023 F-450. There are now only 3 zerks to grease, they have eliminated the upper / lower ball joint and u-joint zerks.
All my other F-450's up to the 2021 have had them.
I’ve got one in each of my u joints in my 22 250. It was my understanding that up til 22 the SRW’s only had 2 and the DRW’s had 9. After 22, who knows…