I wanted to lubricate the front beam and other components in my new VS but when I looked I noticed the beam, ball joints, etc. don't have any grease fittings. What to do??? Thanks!
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I wanted to lubricate the front beam and other components in my new VS but when I looked I noticed the beam, ball joints, etc. don't have any grease fittings. What to do??? Thanks!
The beam should have 4 fittings. If there aren't any I would think that there is a problem there. The beam needs to be full of grease....
Nope, there's just 4 dimples where the fittings are supposed to be.
Could it be that it what it's like when it goes to get painted then the grease ZERTS are supposed to be put back in?
Yup! Drill and tap for the Zerts at the dimpled locations , then pump grease into the beam until you see the grease begin to come out of the seals at the ends of the beam...
Alan M
Alan M
Whoa, there! Maybe he should look for Urethane Bushings, first?
Ricardo....If you have plastic-looking Urethane bushings in your torsion tubes, rather than needle bearings, at the junction of the trailing arms, then they SHOULD have been lubricated with special grease when they were assembled and shouldn't need anything further for several years at least. Also, they won't have any grease nipples on the torsion bar tubes.
If, on the other hand, you can be certain that your torsion tube/trailing arm assemlies have needle bearings, then you'll have to find the dimples in the torsion tubes where the grease nipples are supposed to be , drill the dimples out and insert grease nipples and pump in some grease.
Ricardo....If you have plastic-looking Urethane bushings in your torsion tubes, rather than needle bearings, at the junction of the trailing arms, then they SHOULD have been lubricated with special grease when they were assembled and shouldn't need anything further for several years at least. Also, they won't have any grease nipples on the torsion bar tubes.
If, on the other hand, you can be certain that your torsion tube/trailing arm assemlies have needle bearings, then you'll have to find the dimples in the torsion tubes where the grease nipples are supposed to be , drill the dimples out and insert grease nipples and pump in some grease.
To clarify my post....
If you have the red bushings they are urethane and without needle bearings ....and yes, they should have been installed with a special semi clear grease.( same type of grease is used on red urethane sway bar bushings).
Black bushings are the stock ones that have the needle bearings
Inside of the beam where the flat stock torsion bars are located should have grease in the axle beam to keep the bars lubricated as well as the needle bearings.
If you have the red bushings they are urethane and without needle bearings ....and yes, they should have been installed with a special semi clear grease.( same type of grease is used on red urethane sway bar bushings).
Black bushings are the stock ones that have the needle bearings
Inside of the beam where the flat stock torsion bars are located should have grease in the axle beam to keep the bars lubricated as well as the needle bearings.
Thanks, Alan.
It may take two of us to explain thngs, but if you say the words I'll wave my hands.
gn
It may take two of us to explain thngs, but if you say the words I'll wave my hands.
gn
Cheech and Chong?
"Dave's not here!..........
That's dog chit mang.....
This is an update: First of all; I'm such a dumbsh*t...I went to my favorite VW shop and bought the four fittings along with some other parts this morning. Got under the car to install them and found out that the fittings were there; I was just looking at the wrong locations....so much for being on top of things. Anyway, I was finally able to put grease in all of them. There was one, though, at the lower tube on the driver's side that was unreachable with the grease gun because the bumper bracket on that side was too close. I had to use some "persuasion" (read unbolt the two c clamps and bang the hell out of the bracket)to give it enough space for the grease gun tip to fit. Finally did it....Thanks again for your insight, which, as always, is invaluable.
"Oly chit" man ...someone remembers my favorite Cheech 'n Chong skit
" Dave's not here man.........."Open UP DA DOOR MAN , I got da stuff !"
" Dave's not here man.........."Open UP DA DOOR MAN , I got da stuff !"
Ricardo,
They have flexible hoses you can fit on the manual grease guns, maybe that might work getting into a tight spot. Has worked for me on other cars I've had. I was able to fit the grease hose head into very tight spots becsue of the flexible hose. Don't know if it work on a Speedy but I've got that coming up in the future.
Bruce
They have flexible hoses you can fit on the manual grease guns, maybe that might work getting into a tight spot. Has worked for me on other cars I've had. I was able to fit the grease hose head into very tight spots becsue of the flexible hose. Don't know if it work on a Speedy but I've got that coming up in the future.
Bruce
Hi Bruce; I am using the flexible hose. The problem was that the bumper bracket that attaches to the beam was too close to the bottom fitting so that the end of the hose didn't have enough space to fit over the fitting.
Ricardo: If you have a NAPA store there (or a good equivalent that the local mechanics go to or a Sears Roebuck tool department) you can buy a "grease needle". Looks like a huge hypodermic needle with a grease fitting on the back end. You push it onto your grease gun hose fitting and then push the needle end firmly onto/into the zero-clearance grease fitting you're trying to get to and pump it full of grease. These needles are specifically made for no-clearance fittings and work like a charm.
Gordon
Gordon
Thank you for such a great tip Gord! I banged the bracket a little so tat I cut gain some clearance and finally I did!