Installing grease zerks, am I doing it wrong?
 

Hey guys, question; I have poly bushings (ES set iirc) and I'm putting grease zerks in the control arms using the 949 guide. So far everything is pretty straightforward, no real problems. However apparently I'm not supposed to put grease between the control arm and the bushings, only between the sleeve and bushing. Am I going to have to pull all of this back apart to remove the grease or should I be OK? I'm just worried about the front bushings spinning and screwing up the grease zerks. :vash:

As for grease, I am using PREMALUBE™ XTREME from Certified Labs, my friend's a distributor so I get a good deal. It's for construction use, so I'd imagine it should work quite well for my simple bushings:

• Extreme Duty, Multi-Purpose, Synthetic Blend Grease
• NLGI #2: Extreme duty Calcium Sulfonate grease specifically formulated for construction and heavy industrial equipment. From -10°F to 400°F continuous, intermittent up to 500°F. Patent # 5,126,062. (Calcium Sulfonate base recommended by Caterpillar.)
• NLGI #1: Winter-Grade version of Premalube Xtreme. Designed for easier pumpability in cold temperatures from -20°F to 400°F continuous, intermittent up to 500°F.

Also, I have 1-piece upper front bushings that do NOT have grooves cut for greasing; just smooth for the sleeve. I drilled through the bushing and twisted the drill to get a nice cone cut out inside to get a nice surface area to grease with, is that really good enough though?

You'll be fine. All else being equal, it will be the sleeve that twists with the suspension (simple physics, much less contact area there plus it's smooth and meant to twist).

The main grease property that you need to focus on is water resistance. You don't generate the same kind of heat and pressure in suspension bushings that are seen in wheel bearings or other applications, so extreme temperature and pressure resistance isn't as critical.

Thanks, that's great to hear. I lost a bit of sleep over it :P

Here's the tech spec sheet, it's really nice stuff. Not sticky as she like the hyperlube was though. Listed as water resistant and heavier than water which is nice to hear.

I finished installing the zerks and put some arms on the car last night. Before I put the upper fronts on, I plugged in the grease gun and pumped the handle a few times to make sure they work and wow, it works surprisingly well! Got a ton of grease to run through it without much effort.

I did break one of the front lower zerks off and had to use a small drill bit to screw it out and replaced it. I ended up cutting reliefs on the front lower mounts and rear upper mounts, a notch all the way back connecting to the existing eye hole. They were off-center a little, but once you take that into account 10 minutes with a grinder and you're done.