Yeah, old thread. I always hated using the large unwieldy ones. About 10 years ago I found a small vintage one (surprisingly the small grease tubes are readily available) and I love it. Not being a garage or something the smaller volume doesn't bother me. One tube will still do everything I own that needs greased.
being a former owner operator I have worn out several over the years as greasing was a weekly thing on my trucks and I never had to replace a kingpin or bushing either , my DD 2wd 1 ton is 20 years old and 150K on the clock and all the steering / suspension/u joints are Oem except the idler arm ( known for failing ) and is greased every 10 K or 6 months as grease will dry out/seperate if not worked. on most of the used vehicles I owned most never seen a drop of grease till I owned it , and after I replaced the parts , have 2 pumps a lincoln large and a lincoln small with long hoses , and the needle greaser for ford non greasable ball joints ( lift up the edge of the boot and pump it full of grease and it will last longer ) on my family members f series trucks . and I use Hydro tex greases as they shed water as they are for marine packings
I have 3, all from H.F. On works fairly well, 2 are junk and another one I had, also from H.F., I just chucked into the trash bucket. Next time I'll spend more to get a better product.
I THREW AWAY THE THREE THAT GREASED THE INSIDE OF MY TOOL BOX ON HOT DAYS AND GOT A NICE $30.00 ONE THAT WORKS PERFECT. CRAB LOUIE
I got a few. Seems most times I use that handy little 'mini'. Of course cartridge changes are more often, but it's not like I grease on a daily basis. Had an OT truck, bought new. Greased it every oil change. 22yrs & over 200K miles, still had every factory original front end component on it the day I sold it. Grease works.
I have several at home; the front end of my roadster gets greased every thousand miles. Also have 3 of them at work for the aircraft.
i have three--one "mini," a full-size u-pump-it and an air-powered one. my '50 must have 30 grease nipples on it!
2 regular size and 2 mini. 1 of each at each shop, the small body ones are useful to fit in late model stuff easier. Need to pick up a regular size with a LONG flex hose.
I thought greasing your components was as common as changing your oil. It's like Car Maintenance 101. I have 2 grease guns, 1 with red grease, the other with green grease. I'm sure like most of you, my dad taught me how to change oil and grease all the zerks when I was 15. I have a couple different fittings for zerks so I can get the ones with a smaller head/hole.
It's one of the first things I learned to do to a car so the old man wouldn't have to do that messy job anymore, I became his official grease guy. Use mine @ every oil change. bought a used a arm for an 89 dodge van from a savage yard once, replaced the ball joint before installation as cheep insurance and found the original to contain what looked like black graphite, it was dried up grease . I don't think that ball joint was ever greased after it left the factory!
Is this a trick question? What I'd like to know is how you store yours. I have about 5, plus various hoses, pipes and extra cartridges. All of it greasy outside. Put them in the toolbox, gets everything greasy. Put them in plastic bags, sticks to the bags and gets everything greasy. Maybe a separate toolbox.
Since this old topic has been pretty well lubed I'll just add this. An old friend was over yesterday...yes old. Said his new girlfriend wanted him to have her car's oil and grease changed. Seems like she hadn't gotten it done in way over four or five years. He asked me "shouldn't the oil be changed every three years?" Damned I'd like to by her Kia. PS I have several grease guns and tool boxes that will never rust on the inside.
Well I posted on this thread probably way back when it was first started and just for an update I gave one away last summer to another HAMBer who didn't have one. Blowby, I not only have grease guns but also a grease pump for my rear-ends and I store them in the bottom of my big tool box, yep things down there get greasy and oily but they don't rust and I just have to wipe them before I use them.
I have several that I use for various different applications. I don't ever recall NOT having grease guns around. They've always been an invisible part of my existence, I guess. Always there, but never really noticed or thought about until I used one of them.
LOL when I was traveling around on my old bike ( back in the '70s) I had a mini grease gin that I kept in my toolbag. I always wrapped it in a rag and that never ever made any difference. But it did keep people from stealing my tools. I only recall not having a grease gun once since I was about 14 and it seemed that once I got one that time several others came to live with it. Hmmmmn must have been a hippy grease gun.
Pops was a Brass Era car guy, so I learned to grease. Do it every oil change just because I'm too dumb to remember if this time is the one to skip or if I skipped last time. Now- 5 years ago when I read this thread before someone asked about getting at that zerk in a U joint and I was excited to see what answers came about. None. Anybody got a hot idea that doesn't involve complete disassembly?
Sorry to say I do NOT HAVE A GREASE GUN. I kept missplacing it and buying another one. Now I think I have 4 of em!!!! lol
Worked on a 1951 or 52 Porsche 356 pre A for a guy. It had zerk fittings on the door hinges, pretty good idea I thought.
I have several in the shop......but please don't tell anybody. I'm from New York State, and they'll probably be makin us register them soon!
I have a old Allstate cartridge type that belonged to my dad, Dont know how old it is, but can remember it from when I was very young. I have a Pennzoil barrel that I simply hang it over in, along with siphon gun and various funnels. Clean the barrel ever few months an ready to go again.
I have like a dozen grease guns, with 3 that actually work... I had a 53 Pontiac once that I drove for a few months about 10 years ago. Once when changing the oil and greasing it, I decided I would count all of the grease fittings - there were 23! Finally, yes, it is like we are Dr Frankenstein. A lot like...
I had a few, and just remembered I gave one away 6 months back. I also have more than enough grease to last rest of my days, unless I give some away too. I like the older guns, they feel better than the lightweight cheapo new ones.
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