- #1
YoshiMoshi
- 228
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- TL;DR Summary
- How do I get grease into an inner tie rod?
I know inner tie rods come pre-greased, and should be good for a very long time. But I was hoping to add grease into mine every now and then to extend their life. I noticed that some (but not all) inner tie rods have a little hole on the side where a wrench can be put on.
I was thinking at first that the hole is how grease is injected into the ball joint at the factory. However after getting this part, it is clear that this is not the case.
There's a hole in the stud (for what purpose I do not know) and you can look through it and see the hole from the first picture, meaning that the two are connected together, sort of like a giant "L" shape, that goes no where, and seems to have no apparent purpose as far as I can see.
So I have no idea, what is the purpose of these holes?
I was thinking that maybe I could stick a drill bit inside of the rod with a hole in it (green X in the picture below) and drill a hole through the metal at the location of the red X. Eventually I would get into the ball joint area. I could then block of the hole in the stud with a plug, and put a zerk fitting where the other hole is (orange arrow)
Has anyone ever tried to do something like this before, to add grease into an inner tie rod? I find it really strange, that there's no provision for adding grease. With the rest of the metal housing being mostly round, there's not really another good spot to install a zerk fitting. Is my only option to really occasional remove the boot, and use my hands to manually force grease into the ball area?
How do they add grease at the factory? I tried searching of a packer tool for inner tie rods. Some sort of tool that grips onto the inner tie rod to create a closed container, and as you pump grease in it forces it's way through. Kind of like a bearing packer tool. But there appears to be no "inner tie rod grease packer".
Thanks for the help!
Also does anyone know of any videos or pictures, showing the insides of an inner tie rod? I have never seen one cut open before. Regular ball joints, I have though.
I was thinking at first that the hole is how grease is injected into the ball joint at the factory. However after getting this part, it is clear that this is not the case.
There's a hole in the stud (for what purpose I do not know) and you can look through it and see the hole from the first picture, meaning that the two are connected together, sort of like a giant "L" shape, that goes no where, and seems to have no apparent purpose as far as I can see.
So I have no idea, what is the purpose of these holes?
I was thinking that maybe I could stick a drill bit inside of the rod with a hole in it (green X in the picture below) and drill a hole through the metal at the location of the red X. Eventually I would get into the ball joint area. I could then block of the hole in the stud with a plug, and put a zerk fitting where the other hole is (orange arrow)
Has anyone ever tried to do something like this before, to add grease into an inner tie rod? I find it really strange, that there's no provision for adding grease. With the rest of the metal housing being mostly round, there's not really another good spot to install a zerk fitting. Is my only option to really occasional remove the boot, and use my hands to manually force grease into the ball area?
How do they add grease at the factory? I tried searching of a packer tool for inner tie rods. Some sort of tool that grips onto the inner tie rod to create a closed container, and as you pump grease in it forces it's way through. Kind of like a bearing packer tool. But there appears to be no "inner tie rod grease packer".
Thanks for the help!
Also does anyone know of any videos or pictures, showing the insides of an inner tie rod? I have never seen one cut open before. Regular ball joints, I have though.
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