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07-21-2017, 05:15 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Central Ontario
Posts: 432
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Greasing Front End etc Georgetown 378
I'm planning on greasing the front end as outlined in Ford Chassis owners manual and need clarification on a few things
Will normal grease gun fitting match grease fittings?
Are there more than the 9 points( steering linkage) listed in the manual I should address?
The only specified grease listed in specifications and capacities is for rear axle -do I use what's specified or something else for steering?
If anyone out there has done their own grease job could you give me guidance
Thanks
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07-21-2017, 05:21 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Central Ontario
Posts: 432
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Just noticed specs on grease ( buried in with transmission /steering/parking brake linkages ) further down .Assume that's what I need but would appreciate ideas on other two concerns
Thanks
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07-21-2017, 05:38 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Posts: 9,230
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Steering should be on the pump, or ps dip stick. Normal chassis grease and the fittings have not changed to my knowledge yet.
__________________
2012 SunSeeker 3100SS Toad-1962 Futura Average 100 + days camping
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07-22-2017, 07:45 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 627
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Standard ole grease fittings. I use synthetic chassis lube grease.
The one on top of the steering box is hard to find and usually the one nobody greases.
While your crawling around under there, the u-joints may also have fittings, hit them
IMPORTANT - When you get back to the rear axle look at the mounting brackets for the torsion bar, The bolts have a habit of coming out and the bracket bending.
These are the brackets that attach the sway bar to the rear axle - Use bluer locktite on the bolts and torque to 65 ft lbs.
__________________
2001 Coachmen Mirada (Ford F53 6.8L V10) - Toad 2003 Saturn Vue
It won't do MACH 2, but I can get a sandwich and take a pee.
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07-23-2017, 02:15 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 121
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you're right. only front suspension needs grease. be sure to grease king pins and bushings top and bottom. located on the back of the plate of the wheels. upper is a little hard to get to. bring a 7/16 wrench to rotate the fitting if necessary. hint, to do driver side top, turn steering wheel all the way to left, then crawl up inside the wheel well in front of the tire. do passenger side the same way. the kingpin and bushings don't hold much grease, so it is important to do more often than other fittings. waiting too long will allow the grease to get hard and block the flow of adding grease.
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07-23-2017, 03:23 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Central Ontario
Posts: 432
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Thanks to everyone who got back. I'll take a closer look at kingpins and U joints. Also had same issue with sway bar bracket -happened twice, both times on passenger side. First time bracket went AWOL second time top bolt came off and bracket was bent. Did some internet checking seems to happen a lot there's a NHTSA bulletin on it
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07-23-2017, 04:56 PM
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#7
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2013 Georgetown XL 377
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Stockholm, NJ
Posts: 50
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I just greased the front end on my 2013 Georgetown 377XL TS. The only thing I did was change to a flex hose to get in those tight areas.
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07-24-2017, 03:40 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Northeast Alabama
Posts: 227
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Good advice from Waiter21 on checking the rear axle sway bar bolts.
Mine broke two bolts and the brackets bent and the tortion arm came apart from the rear end. I did a fix at home using good treated bolts that I got from a local John Deere dealer until I could get it to a Ford dealership.
When the certified Ford truck shop looked at it they said that I should keep the treated bolts there as they are better than the OEM Ford bolts. Apparently failure of these bolts is a somewhat common problem, everyone should take a look at them to be sure they are not bent or stripped
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07-24-2017, 03:43 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Posts: 9,230
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Or just get the better bolts and replace before it becomes a problem.
__________________
2012 SunSeeker 3100SS Toad-1962 Futura Average 100 + days camping
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07-25-2017, 03:44 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Florida
Posts: 223
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This sent me into a tizzy. Crawled under my 2016 GT 369 XL this morning to look around and check thinks out. Here's what has me going.
Last week I took my rig into the dealership to have some work done. Since it was there I told them to do an oil change and lube. Made a point of telling them to make sure they hit all points in addition to driveshaft and u joints. They wrote it on the work order which I have a copy of. At this point I can guess that you all know what I'm about to say. Yup, your right.
I did see that a few fittings did have some evidence of fresh grease at the tips and some fresh grease oozing out of the joints. But the other were all dry, no sign of new grease anywhere. AND, the new oil filter has a trail of oil from top to bottom.
Good news for me, bad news the dealer. They are only 10 miles from my house. Guess where Im stopping by tomorrow.
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07-25-2017, 03:49 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 627
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__________________
2001 Coachmen Mirada (Ford F53 6.8L V10) - Toad 2003 Saturn Vue
It won't do MACH 2, but I can get a sandwich and take a pee.
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07-25-2017, 03:54 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Florida
Posts: 223
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Thank you. Same diagram as the one that I have. 2016 shows exact same points.
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07-25-2017, 07:07 PM
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#13
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 37
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I may be wrong, but when I had an RV with king pins, I was advised and did take weight off the front end to grease the front end. As a matter off fact, one time when getting it lubricated, the garage lifted the front end some what for that very reason.
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07-26-2017, 07:25 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 627
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Quote:
I was advised and did take weight off the front end to grease the front end.
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I suspect the bushings have grooves in them that allow grease to flow. I need to check on this.
That would be my preference. I usually grease mine at every oil change. Only takes a few minutes to hit the zerk fittings and do the underside inspection while I'm waiting for the oil to drain out.
__________________
2001 Coachmen Mirada (Ford F53 6.8L V10) - Toad 2003 Saturn Vue
It won't do MACH 2, but I can get a sandwich and take a pee.
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07-27-2017, 01:19 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Central Ontario
Posts: 432
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Thanks for info do I use same( steering ) for u joint or grease spec'd for rear axle?
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07-27-2017, 01:32 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 121
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ford supplied me with a drawing of grease locations. they are only on front axle. driveshaft and u-joints are sealed. ford says motorhomes don't put enough miles on it to require greasing. I just had my front alignment checked today and all is okay. right camber (side to side) is near max, so they suggested that I keep an eye on outside wear. while they had the wheels off the ground, I asked them to grease the king pins top and bottom as it is best to have the wheels off the ground. he suggested that I give them a shot of grease every oil change as they don't have much space for grease and if left to long the grease may get hard.
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