BX25 Stuck Grease Fitting

[irvingj]

That needle type of tip is meant for really crowded u-joints, where there isn't enough space for a normal zerk fitting; the fittings on these will have a concave cup-type of face to insert the pin/needle into, which only protrudes about 1/8" from the face of the u-joint's center cross. IIRC, my '72 Blazer used those on the front driveshaft CV joint, which was made up of two u-joints short-coupled in a steel housing.

I've also used the needle tip on normal zerk fittings that are just plain hard to get at- it takes some good aim, but you can just push the needle into the teensy ball check valve on the tip of the zerk fitting and pump.

 

[beppington]

I couldn't get my grease gun off one of my zerks & eventually broke the zerk.

Discovered that most (all??) grease gun couplers are adjustable, meaning you can un-screw it a little to loosen its grip on the zerk.

If your gun is new, or never had its two-piece coupler "broken free", you may need to put the coupler in a vice & use either a wrench or vice grips to break it free (separate the 2 pieces of it) that first time. It can take a lot of force to do so. For some reason the coupler manufacturers crank them down super tight at the factory, so tight you can't tell for sure they're actually two pieces that are supposed to be adjustable ... until you break 2 or 3 of them free & realize, yes indeed they are two-piece couplers. Good luck.

 

[Deano]

Same question as you CTF for Deano - just what is that thing and how's it used? Haven't had to grease my backhoe yet since I haven't used it. It's sleeping in my shed until Spring arrives. At least after reading this thread, I'll be on guard for belligerent grease zerks.

I will take a picture and show you...

 

[irvingj]

After some research, I learned it's called a "flush zerk fitting," to be used with a "flush type nozzle" (needle) and is apparently still widely used on 4x4 driveshaft CV joints, or any other place where normal zerks won't fit due to clearances.

Grainger.com has got some good illustrations of both a flush fitting and the needle.

WBB in NH