The driver side lower ball joint Zerk fitting is slightly hidden by the lower control arm. Not sure how to rotate it for better access. It seems to be part of the bolt and is not replaceable. The end of both my grease guns can't seem to lock on the Zerk because the lower control arm is in the way. Thought about grinding down one side of the nozzle. Anyone else overcome this problem or have and ideas.

I have seen it before on other trucks. If the hole for the grease fitting isnt centered in the flat, round area it is hard or impossible to get a standard fitting on it. For these I use a long narrow adapter that is used for greasing u-joint fittings. It has an approximately 4 inch part that is only 1/4 dia and you have to hold it onto the fitting tightly (it doesnt lock on)
the other end goes on the fitting on the gun and has a standard fitting.

Scott

had the same prob

I have seen it before on other trucks. If the hole for the grease fitting isnt centered in the flat, round area it is hard or impossible to get a standard fitting on it. For these I use a long narrow adapter that is used for greasing u-joint fittings. It has an approximately 4 inch part that is only 1/4 dia and you have to hold it onto the fitting tightly (it doesnt lock on)
the other end goes on the fitting on the gun and has a standard fitting.

Scott

Where do you get one of these things ... the only way I have been able to do mine is to jack up the truck and let the wheels hang ... then I just get enough room to fit a standard fitting in ...:mad:

Most any parts store should have them

If you crank the wheel all the way left or right to get access to the fitting you should have enough room to get the gun on it. If the gun nozzle is too big you can find a different hose assembly at many stores with a smaller end fitting. I believe they're almost all 1/8 NPT.

Tried turning left, right, jacking up, going over a bump, down a bump, loosing the ball joint nut.....berserk! I'll be looking for another grease gun fitting (as BigDD described).

You must have a ball joint that has the zerk not quite placed correctly. I have had 4 of these trucks, and I have never had a issue getting the grease gun on the fitting. I do have to turn the wheels one way or the other to get access to them, but I have to that for the ilder arm and pitman arm as well. I know that if you take them to Jiffy Lube, they will not grease them. They always tell me there aren't any zerks on them. That is why I stopped going there. Is it possible that the ball joint isn't in the A arm correctly? Just a thought.

I've replaced several of the straight zerks with 90* zerks so I can grease them. It makes the job go a lot faster!

You must have a ball joint that has the zerk not quite placed correctly. .. Is it possible that the ball joint isn't in the A arm correctly? Just a thought.

I agree. I have no problem accessing the zerks on mine either. I wonder what the difference is. :confused:

If the Zerk could be replaced or even rotated, that would probably do it. It looks to me that the Zerk is part of the bolt that runs thru the lower ball joint. I did try loosening the nut and tried turning the bolt at the bottom with channel locks but was unsuccessful. There is nothing to grip on on the Zerk side of the bolt. Not really sure how to do it. Maybe take the nut from the other side (or like nut) and locking the two to rotate the bolt? The Zerk on the passenger side is rotated a little more inward and I don't have a problem with it.

Well then you should do the needle grease nozzle thing as was suggested. It takes quite a while to get much grease through them though but they do work well. I'd still suggest a new hose with a smaller end fitting too. This is my 5th truck with this type of front end and I've always been able to grease the lower ball joints without too much difficulty

I have seen where the ball joints have been replace and were off just a bit. I did it on one of mine when I replaced it. A small touch up with the die grinder on the A arm fixed the problem. Easy fix. Some of the early trucks didn't have greaseable joints. My 2000 2500 didn't but my Dads did, both the same yr truck. When we installed mine had to touch up the one arm to get the grease gun to fit

Out of the dozen or so GM trucks I work on only one has had this problem. The hole is drilled just a little off center and the fitting is too close to the side of the casting. Like the others sais, you cant get another zerk in there that will work any better, either try a smaller hose end fitting or use the small area extension.
Dont confuse the extension with a needle grease applicator, the needle is just a narrow "needle like" fitting, the other one has a consistant diameter and a cup at the grease end so that it fits on the ball or rounded tip of the zerk.
sorry I cant give you a part number. Any really GOOD atuo parts should have them (IE not Auto zone etc)

You might try putting a short pipe nipple, 4" to 6", between the hose and the end grease fitting to give you more purchase on the zerk. The nipple will cost you less than a buck at a hardware store. If that is still too tight to fit, take the nipple with the fitting attached and chuck the combination into a drill. Try not to mess up the nipple threads. Make sure that the drill is turning in the right direction so that it does not unscrew the two fittings. Then lightly hold the spinning combination against a rotating grinder. Take off a little from the fitting until it fits onto the zerk. I would suggest having a spare grease fitting in case you go too far.