Chassis lubrication

Chassis lubrication is something that should be done during an oil change service or safety inspection.

Important: not all vehicles have grease fittings. In fact, as time moves forward, the grease fitting is becoming a thing of the past.

Sealed non-serviceable joints and front-end parts are now more common. But what if you have an older vehicle, or even a newer one that still has chassis lubrication fittings.

It is important to lubricate them without damaging the sealing boots. My 2004 Chevrolet Blazer has about 10 fittings.

Which leads me to a personal story with a unhappy ending. When I first moved to Florida I didn't have a place to perform my own oil changes.

I was not aloud to bring my truck into the shop at work to perform maintenance. And it was against the apartment complex rules to perform any do-it-yourself auto repairs.

For the first time in about 20 years, I brought my truck to a Chevy dealer for a lube oil and filter service. I got the $24.95 super special.

The service was supposed to include checking tire pressure, filling all fluids and a complete front end lubrication.

My truck had about 3000 miles on it and the suspension had never been lubed before. My service was done in about 30 minutes, and none of the above was performed.

I checked the truck after the service and the washer fluid was empty the tire pressure was low and the chassis was never lubricated.

I went to the service manager and told him that this stuff wasn't done. After insulting me for about 10 minutes he finally took a look at the truck and agreed the service was done poorly.

Problems from chassis lubrication

The angry mechanic used a high-pressure grease gun connected to shop air to fill the joints until the boots broke.

When this happens, the grease leaks out and the joint can wear prematurely unless you increase your inspection and lubrication regiment.

After bringing this to the service manager's attention he called the police, and I was removed from the dealership by force (the cops didn’t get it).

So now that my truck is five years older I am starting to see the fallout from my visit to this dealership.

At this point, the boots that protect the ball joints and tie rod ends are almost completely disintegrated.

Chassis lubricant is slung all over my front end. And I get to see this on every oil change that I now do in my own driveway.

Grease fittings have a one-way spring-loaded check valve that allows grease to check in but not check out.

It is important that you locate all of the lubrication points on your specific vehicle. And you can start by wiping them clean with a rag.

How to lubricate a front end

Carefully look at the joints, and the boots that seal them. Common suspension parts that have grease fittings would be ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arms, and center links.

On some vehicles, especially on light and heavy duty trucks control arms and Pittman arms may also have grease-able zerk fittings.

The tip of the chassis lubrication fitting has a ball and groove setup that allows your grease gun to positively engage and seal to the fitting.

When lubricating your chassis it is important just to put enough grease into the joint to cause the boot to expand slightly.

Once you see this movement, you know, the join is full and you do not want to add any more.

You have gone too far when grease begins to leak out of the joint. It's not the end of the world but you may have increased wear of the chassis part and possibly a shorter lifespan of that suspension component.

If the boots are broken like in the case of my 2004 Chevrolet Blazer. What you want to do is add enough grease until you see the old grease, leaving the joint.

This will happen quickly and require little force on the grease gun handle. When you're suspension boots are broken, they may require more lubrication if the original lifespan of the parts is to be maintained.


Give this how to lubricate front end parts resource page a





One of the most visited sections of this car repair website is related to this front end chassis lubrication subject. Learn more about the stuff that holds your car up on my page about car suspensions


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