I Guess I'm No Grease Monkey

I drove the '72 SSP home from the local shop that installed all the new suspension parts still bone dry (not greased yet). No one at the business thought to put grease in the ten or so fittings. The shop I used screwed up a lot of stuff during that episode (as some of you have already found in other threads I posted).

Today I borrowed a hand grease gun from a neighbor/friend and purchased a Lucas brand grease cartridge at AutoZone. First thing I found, the cartridge fit in the grease gun, but the seal was made to fit the inside diameter of the gun itself and not the cartridge. I emptied as much grease from the cartridge into the gun, only to find after 6-8 pumps it quit working. I guess there is supposed to be a big spring inside the grease gun? Well, there was no spring so I was constantly trying to purge out the air.

The fittings took quite a bit of grease, being the fact they were so virgin. I did not want to blow up the seals, but sure enough on a couple of them I found pinholes already oozing grease. I kind of thought maybe because the seals were new, they would allow me a little slack, but nothing doing. I actually believed the grease would ooze from the ends of the seals before a pinhole would develop--silly me.

When I finished I noticed the seal on the pitman arm looked like the other seals, kinda bulbous and poofy. The seal on the idler arm, if there is one, is either different or got smashed during installation. On the idler arm there is no rubber surrounding the outside of the joint, just like a rubber gasket between the space which sees movement. I don't know if the installation/product piece is correct or not (see photos). Thank you.

The pitman arm is in the first photo (with the starter in the background). The idler arm (the one I was wondering a about) is in the second photo.

One more thing, one of the "new" grease fittings refused to accept grease, had to "borrow" one from elsewhere to take care of the problem.

Dont feel bad I took the roadrunner in for an alignment.. After the alignment I went under the car. That asshole didnt put any carter pins back in.

BeepBeepRR said:

Dont feel bad I took the roadrunner in for an alignment.. After the alignment I went under the car. That asshole didnt put any carter pins back in.

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I’d have gone back in there and beat that bastard

The pin holes are not a problem thats how you know therefull ! The pit man is just a lower seal style there's nothing wrong with it . Sometimes I've had fitting snot take grease new just change the nip and your golden.
A shop that doesn't grease brand new parts is not a real shop in my opinion! Just a bunch of kids playing mechanic!
Sadly that's what's out there now new stuff is non Grease able so I would team there asses but keep in mind if they don't do old cars normally it's just a mistake!

BeepBeepRR said:

Dont feel bad I took the roadrunner in for an alignment.. After the alignment I went under the car. That asshole didnt put any carter pins back in.

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I'm trying to think why they would be removed for an alignment? Normal alignment, the cam bolts are the only thing that gets moved.

Demonic said:

I'm trying to think why they would be removed for an alignment? Normal alignment, the cam bolts are the only thing that gets moved.

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Might have had the tie rods loose to center the wheel or some such?

moparedtn said:

Might have had the tie rods loose to center the wheel or some such?

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Exactly.. The guy spent over an hour on the front end.

You all kill me …… you don't know how to do it yourself then you complain that someone did it wrong. No cotter (not carter that's an ex president) pins need to be removed during an alignment unless parts need to be replaced. I,m betting they weren't there to begin with. An alignment can take over an hour on our old mopars, and JUST wipe off the excess grease no big deal. How about talking to the shop manager about your issues instead of bashing them on the internet? You may find they make it right for you. And if these shops are so bad, why do you keep going back? Learn to fix it yourself

front end work on these cars are very basic. no shop will ever touch mine for the very reasons outlined above. who knows what else they missed. I would go back over every nut and bolt for tightness. when you see any signs of grease oozing, the boot is full. I'd be damned to dish out one penny for labor.

BeepBeepRR said:

Dont feel bad I took the roadrunner in for an alignment.. After the alignment I went under the car. That asshole didnt put any carter pins back in.

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WTF?