dieseldoctor1
Expert Expediter
First part of this post will be for van owners but will also give some info for other truck owners also. Was talking with a fellow expeditor the other day and the subject of ball joints came up. Seems he has had to replace them on his Ford about every 100,000 miles. I am on my third van and have never replaced any front end parts. Highest van mileage when sold was 377,000 and I talked to the present owner about a month ago and van now has over 500,000 and he still hasn't replace ball joints or tie rod ends.
First thing I do when I get a new Ford van is remove the small plugs from the bottom of the ball joints and install 45 degree grease zerks. If I remember they are 1/4 x 20 thread but check it out before you buy.
Now here comes the part most people won't do and is really the most important part. If you have your van serviced by a shop you probably won't be able to get this done. Before you grease the ball joints you must jack up the van to take the load off the wheels which takes the load off the ball joint. Why? Because with the load on the ball joint the parts that are carrying the load are tight together so grease cannot get between them. It will just go up to the top where there is clearance and folks, clearance don't need grease. When you jack up the front end the load bearing sufaces seperate and the grease can go between them where it needs to be.
Now for straight trucks and tractors the only thing you need to do different is jack the truck up by the frame so the load comes off the spring pins also.
Ok you say that takes care of ball joints but what about tie rod ends. Biggest cause for failure I've found for them is over greasing. By that I don't mean too often but too much. I use a lever type grease gun and the first time I grease any ball joint or tie rod end I watch the rubber boot very close and pump slow. When I see any movement in the boot I stop. From then on I just make sure the grease gun is primed properly and then give each fitting ONE stroke. Most places pump until grease squirts out of the boot seal and this opens the seal up and water and deicing salts get inside and well you know the rest. Spring pins don't have boots so pump slow and watch for water and dirt on each end of pin. Pump until clear and then wipe all grease off both ends of pin.
Does this work? Well I use it on everything I have. Lawnmowers, tractors, wagons, cars, pickups,vans ext. and have never had to rebuild a front end. I have the Case tractor my Dad bought new in 1940 and he taught me how to do this on that tractor. The front end is still tight on that tractor.
Ok how about trucks? Well for about six years I was a district maintenance manager for a national waste company, in charge of three shops in NC. After about three years they were calling from headquaters in Houston TX saying I wasn't spending enough money on my trucks so I must not be keeping them in good shape. I guess the number crunching idiot thought I was spending my own money keeping the truck running. To make a long story short after a couple of months arguing back and forth they had three other distict managers fly in and inspect my trucks. They couldn't believe how good a shape the trucks were in. They believe it now. I also showed them why they were relining brakes every three months on house to house garbage trucks when I only did a brake job every year or so. Also showed them how having a air filter restriction gauge and using it would save them not only money not replacing air cleaner elements too often but would also save engines from dirt contamination. I will state something here that will probably start a heated discussion and I will be glad to expound on it later if anyone is interested. A dirty air filter element cleans better than a new one and every time you change an air filter element you introduce a certain amount of dirt into your engine! Also if anyone is interested in getting better brake wear I can go over how I did that.
Is this all there is to not wearing out front ends? No there is one more thing that wears out front end parts and brakes and wastes a bunch of fuel and this will step on some toes but what the heck. That thing is a loose nut behind the steering wheel. Yes I'm talking about the driver. I would say about 80% of the drivers I have observed over the years have habits that do one or more of these things. What wears front end parts? Sawing the wheel! Anybody remember the old crosscut saw. Back and forth. Back and forth all day long. Ever heard; Boy I don't mind you riding this thing but quit dragging your feet! LOL Anyway a lot of people even on a straight level road sit there and saw the wheel back and forth. I noticed this when trucks changed from manual to power steering. A lot of truck drivers had a hard time adapting to a truck being that easy to steer. A lot of them had to learn to drive with one hand because with two hands on the wheel they just kept fighting the wheel. Any way when the wheel is sawed back and forth the ball joints or king pins are also. Of course this increases the wear.
I took many rides with every driver in my fleet and believe me it was hard to break these habits. Some I never did get broke of all three. Had to take video of some of them to convince them they were sawing the wheel. Next time you ride with someone watch them close and have someone watch you when you least expect it. I think you will be surprised. DISCLAIMER!!!!! I will not be responsible for any marriage or team breakup because of this. Practice at your own risk.
Didn't mean to write a book. Hope it helps some of you a little.
Dieseldoctor
First thing I do when I get a new Ford van is remove the small plugs from the bottom of the ball joints and install 45 degree grease zerks. If I remember they are 1/4 x 20 thread but check it out before you buy.
Now here comes the part most people won't do and is really the most important part. If you have your van serviced by a shop you probably won't be able to get this done. Before you grease the ball joints you must jack up the van to take the load off the wheels which takes the load off the ball joint. Why? Because with the load on the ball joint the parts that are carrying the load are tight together so grease cannot get between them. It will just go up to the top where there is clearance and folks, clearance don't need grease. When you jack up the front end the load bearing sufaces seperate and the grease can go between them where it needs to be.
Now for straight trucks and tractors the only thing you need to do different is jack the truck up by the frame so the load comes off the spring pins also.
Ok you say that takes care of ball joints but what about tie rod ends. Biggest cause for failure I've found for them is over greasing. By that I don't mean too often but too much. I use a lever type grease gun and the first time I grease any ball joint or tie rod end I watch the rubber boot very close and pump slow. When I see any movement in the boot I stop. From then on I just make sure the grease gun is primed properly and then give each fitting ONE stroke. Most places pump until grease squirts out of the boot seal and this opens the seal up and water and deicing salts get inside and well you know the rest. Spring pins don't have boots so pump slow and watch for water and dirt on each end of pin. Pump until clear and then wipe all grease off both ends of pin.
Does this work? Well I use it on everything I have. Lawnmowers, tractors, wagons, cars, pickups,vans ext. and have never had to rebuild a front end. I have the Case tractor my Dad bought new in 1940 and he taught me how to do this on that tractor. The front end is still tight on that tractor.
Ok how about trucks? Well for about six years I was a district maintenance manager for a national waste company, in charge of three shops in NC. After about three years they were calling from headquaters in Houston TX saying I wasn't spending enough money on my trucks so I must not be keeping them in good shape. I guess the number crunching idiot thought I was spending my own money keeping the truck running. To make a long story short after a couple of months arguing back and forth they had three other distict managers fly in and inspect my trucks. They couldn't believe how good a shape the trucks were in. They believe it now. I also showed them why they were relining brakes every three months on house to house garbage trucks when I only did a brake job every year or so. Also showed them how having a air filter restriction gauge and using it would save them not only money not replacing air cleaner elements too often but would also save engines from dirt contamination. I will state something here that will probably start a heated discussion and I will be glad to expound on it later if anyone is interested. A dirty air filter element cleans better than a new one and every time you change an air filter element you introduce a certain amount of dirt into your engine! Also if anyone is interested in getting better brake wear I can go over how I did that.
Is this all there is to not wearing out front ends? No there is one more thing that wears out front end parts and brakes and wastes a bunch of fuel and this will step on some toes but what the heck. That thing is a loose nut behind the steering wheel. Yes I'm talking about the driver. I would say about 80% of the drivers I have observed over the years have habits that do one or more of these things. What wears front end parts? Sawing the wheel! Anybody remember the old crosscut saw. Back and forth. Back and forth all day long. Ever heard; Boy I don't mind you riding this thing but quit dragging your feet! LOL Anyway a lot of people even on a straight level road sit there and saw the wheel back and forth. I noticed this when trucks changed from manual to power steering. A lot of truck drivers had a hard time adapting to a truck being that easy to steer. A lot of them had to learn to drive with one hand because with two hands on the wheel they just kept fighting the wheel. Any way when the wheel is sawed back and forth the ball joints or king pins are also. Of course this increases the wear.
I took many rides with every driver in my fleet and believe me it was hard to break these habits. Some I never did get broke of all three. Had to take video of some of them to convince them they were sawing the wheel. Next time you ride with someone watch them close and have someone watch you when you least expect it. I think you will be surprised. DISCLAIMER!!!!! I will not be responsible for any marriage or team breakup because of this. Practice at your own risk.
Didn't mean to write a book. Hope it helps some of you a little.
Dieseldoctor
