I have a 1999 XJ 4x4 w/ 100,000 miles that I have been doing a tune up on. I have everything done except greasing/lubricating the joints, axels, etc...

Can anyone tell me what I will need and where to lubricate? Pictures would be really helpful!!

1. grease gun - what kind, any? multiple fittings?
2. Where are the grease points? Can you post pics?
3. What kind of grease?
4. Anywhere I just need to put grease around a fitting? Driveshaft?

I have done all the work myself and consider myself somewhat mechanically inclined I just have never owned a XJ before.

Work Completed so far:
Bilstein 4600 shocks
New front / rear brakes / rebuild
TC/Trans/Differential fluid changes
Spark Plugs/Distributor Cap/Rotor
Radiator/Heater Flush
Valve Cover Gasket
Muffler/Tail Pipe
All front end bushings

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Chuck in some new spark plug wires, and you're pretty much set.
The grease gun can be any type, the one with the handle to pump holds cartridges usualy, which are convenient and less messy. It comes with a ' universal' clip-on clip-off kinda fitting, which should be fine for all the grease nipples involved.
Where it goes, is self showing (have no specific pics but crawl under the front end and you can't miss them), it's on those connections that actually have the nipples. Bal ljoints, the front drive shaft piece (don't know the name of the part, but where it slides in and out, it has a grease fitting on it).
U-joints on the driveshafts can be the servicable types (those have grease fitting) or non-servicable which...tadaaa...have no grease fittings on them (look around the so-called cross of the u-joint, it might be on the other side).
The balljoint ones you fill untill you can feel resistance in the rubber boot, don't go all hectic, just gently squeeze it in untill it bulges.

 

Get a gun that has the rubber hose on it. Had problems getting to some of my fittings with the metal hose one. Grease your ball joints like roler said. Also grease tie rod ends that have the zerks on them. Upper and lower ball joints. And your universals might have zerks. I know my 89 does but I could be wrong on your year but check. Do all that and you'll be set

 

Good point about the tei-rods and the rubber hose...forgot that grease guns also come with the straight one lol....which is unhandy to get to some of them.

 

I use a similar grease gun like this with the rubber hose that gives you more flexibility than the straight shaft ones. And I am using vavoline all purpose automotive grease that was at Wal-Mart.

 

I had this saved, for what it's worth! >>

• Track bar/panhard rod. 1 nipple at chassis end
  * Track rod ends. 1 at each end of axle and 1 at the steering box drop arm. Possibly 1 at the mid-joint of the drag link but I think this one is usualy not greasable? so 3, maybe 4 on the steering linkage.
  * Steering swivel ball joints. The top ball joint is greasable and this is easier to get to if you take the wheels off but not essential. The bottom ball joint isn't usually greasable but I think some specialist aftermarket ones might be.
  *Front axle driveshafts have a UJ at each axle end. These are often not greasable but they can be and the grease fitting may be the usual nipple between 2 of the bearing caps(although there is no room to get a conventional grease gun in to it) or a flush fitting on the end of 1 of the bearing caps.
  *Front propshaft has a greasable sliding joint and 3 UJ's which probably won't be greasable if they are original. The UJ nearest the gearbox could be greasable by the bearing end cap as there is no space to get to an inner grease nipple.
  * Rear propshaft has 2 UJ's which again probably aren't greasable but worth checking. The sliding joint of the rear propshaft has to be dismantled to grease it but it is advisable to do it every few years, undo the uj straps at the rear axle(4x 8mm headed bolts) and remove the prop to grease the splines.

 

That was saved for now, D!....nice summary.

 

Engineering 101: "if it moves, lubricate....if it doesnt move...lubricate anyways just to be safe"

hasnt failed me yet....

 

You must have one greasy ride....

 

I am replacing the two front axle u-joints on my wife's XJ. None of the ones I looked at had the grease Zerks(as the nipples are called). I shoved some grease in as I was reinstalling them. The old ones were shot on one side, and were probably the factory ones, with 155k on them. Driveshafts can have zerks for the slip joints, some do not. I purchased a slide on fitting for the end of my grease gun that allows me to get the hose in and on the fittings on the U-joints, where a conventional end won't, and it also allows me to get to all the other fittings even easier, since like was previously mentioned, you sometimes have to take tires off to access the upper ball joint zerks. Work smarter not harder. The rest of the fittings were pretty much hit on, but I will see if I can get creative with Paint and take an underside shot of the front end and highlight the points that were mentioned. It also never hurts when doing weekly checks to add grease as needed. A little may go a long way, but just some of the simple PM can save money and downtime in the long run.

Jeff

 

So I found the 7 points that take grease and greased them up... but.... I noticed that some of them specifically the passenger side (top of ball joint I believe) is torn and just shoots the grease straight out. The drive side filled up and looked normal.

Can I just keep filling this bad boy up every couple weeks or is this something I should address right away? I plan on keeping this thing for 2 years then buying a new car... thanks for all the help!!!

 

i'd replace the upper and lower balljoint on that side.

also, for ujoints, i prefer the non greaseable joints.

 

depending on the size of the hole, you can get away with a hole in the boot for quite some time... although it has decreased the life and efficiency of the part... there are TONS of cars out there right now with busted boots... hell a friend of mine had a escort with the entire lower boots missing... just rotted off... rode on that for months before I could finally talk him into letting me replace them for him..

BUT!!!!!

I recommend replacing them anyway... I only said the above to let you know its not life or death.. If you keep pumping grease into the busted ones regularly, it will force the old out and extend their life...

 

Thanks everyone! This was very helpful. Looks like I have a nice weekend project coming up.