Every now and then, someone decides to start doing their own oil and lube maintenance on their TJ. It is cheaper than the corner lube joints and for about the same price as you pay there, you can use top grade synthetic oil, if you so desire. Plus, you won’t have some pimply faced drop out cross threading your drain plug or breaking the oil pressure sender off when his filter wrench slips. Of course, there was the time when right after a Jiffy Lube appointment, my A/C compressor would no longer engage….well, you see why I do my own. You just can’t get hired help anymore at these places that are responsible enough to do an adequate job, let alone a good one.
The picture above is looking at the passenger side front tire as seen from the front of the vehicle. There are two grease fittings shown here, both circled in green. #1 is at the top of the picture and is located on the top of the ball joint. #2, at the bottom of the picture, can not be clearly seen here. If you look up from the bottom at #2, you can clearly see the grease fitting on the end of the tie rod. Both of these fittings are also located on the driver’s side front tire as well.
In the picture above, grease fitting #3 is located just to the left of the first two fittings. It is at the point where drag link connects to the tie rod, about a foot to the left of the first two fittings.
In the picture above, the #4 grease fitting is located at the end of the pitman arm where it connect to the drag link. #5 is located at the end of the track bar where it connects to the frame mount.
Other TJ Grease Fittings
It is fairly easy to spot the traditional grease fittings under the TJ. It is even easier when you were the person who installed the parts with the zirk fittings on them. The various lift kits bring with them more opportunities to pump a little grease each and every time you do maintenance on your Jeep. Be sure to get familiar with them and don’t overlook one when you are doing your oil change and chassis lube.
In the picture above, this fitting (circled in red) is on CV driveshaft for the rear axle. The stock driveshaft does not have this fitting. This fitting keeps the splines in the telescoping driveshaft properly lubricated so the driveshaft can easily compress and extend while the TJ flexes over obstacles.
The two fittings above are not quite as easy to notice (all the more reason to be sure to read the paperwork that comes with your mod components). These grease fittings are referred to as needle zirks. They require a different attachment on the end of your grease gun in order to service them. I like them since they are pretty much immune to rock damage on trail, unlike the zirk in the picture above. The needle fitting is pushed into the opening (you must hold it in place) and the grease gun is the pumped.
Ken, a local area Jeeper, provided me with a couple of pics from his CV drive shaft after he discovered he was not properly greasing the CV. I asked him if I could include them here and he graciously gave me the go ahead. Hopefully these will help you properly identify grease fittings on your equipment.
Another pic from Ken. This one would be VERY easy to overlook. This fitting provides much needed grease for the CV centering ball. Not all CV drive shafts have grease fittings on the centering balls. If you are having one built, insist that it has a grease fitting.
A needle adaptor for getting those hard to reach fittings. This one is quite a bit longer than the one I showed in the above photo.
Don’t forget other possible lube locations such as after market control arms. The heim joints on the Rubicon Express arms have a standard zirk on them. Other brands do too.