Grease Fittings

[highboy1975]

i think with either idea, your looking at hitting it before you put the grease fitting in to cause more of an interference fit. i was told to use a ratchet extension to tap the grease fitting in. 1/4 inch i believe. if doing it inside the hole would create a ridge, then i like my idea. the idea of peening around the hole sounded better. i was tired and not thinking my thoughts through and that using a punch inside the hole would just open it up more. you want to close the hole up a tiny little bit to give more interference between the fitting and the opening. i would think you'd have to use a pretty blunt punch to create a lip inside the hole. either way should work, it just depends on the tools you have available.

 

[CJ-8_Jim]

A few months ago, I had to replace a number of press-in grease fittings on my GT3235.

I went down to my local Menards home improvement center (not sure if those are by you) and found a variety of grease zerks in their specialized parts bins.

If I recall correctly, the 3/16" press-in they had was too big or two small, but when I went one size bigger/smaller, it fit perfectly.

Can't remember the price, but it was < $1 each... maybe $0.60 each.

Pick up a couple extra... sometimes when I tapped them in, I damaged the head. Make sure you use just enough force (not too much) to seat the zerk and tap squarely & evenly over the head.

All and all... it was pretty easy. Replacing with press-ins made sense -- no risk of thread shavings by tapping/installing threaded zerks. Plus no risk of me screwing it up.

 

[Bird]

Pick up a couple extra... sometimes when I tapped them in, I damaged the head. Make sure you use just enough force (not too much) to seat the zerk and tap squarely & evenly over the head.

I never tap directly on the grease zerk. Instead I take a small socket wrench just big enough to go over the part of the zerk that the grease gun attaches to, but not the base of the zerk. Then I tap on that socket so the rim of the socket drives the base of the zerk. For me, that's easier to keep it straight and I can't damage the zerk.

 

[turnerbend]

To my mind using self-tapping fittings will introduce metal shavings into the bearing. If not, I'd certainly like to avoid the alternative, which would be disassembling every bearing with a fitting, tapping it, cleaning it, and repacking it.

In my mind most grease fitting on a lawn mower are not on bearings only bushing.

 

[Captain Ned]

In my mind most grease fitting on a lawn mower are not on bearings only bushing.

Still have to take them apart to do the tapping job the right way.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Everyone should have a carbide tipped mining bit (single point), they are the best indexing punch ever devised...work great for dimpling. Got a couple from a friend of mine who works in the mining industry.