I was thinking of purchasing a grease gun for use on my 4runners zerk fittings. I'm not looking to spend a lot of money, so I found this one, will it work/is it decent?
Also I was going to use this page as reference of what to lube, but I still am not sure how you know how much grease you need to add to whatever you're greasing? How often should this be done too?
Thanks a lot,
-Bryan
(oh also, this may be a dumb question because I haven't checked a store yet, but are there different types of grease to chose from?)

 

You can get one with a flexible hose and one with a rigid tube. I have a flexible rubber hose version - easier to get into tight places. Try to find one with a handle that has a squeeze portion. That way you don't have to hold the gun with one hand and squeeze with the other.

 

Ok, I'll look for one with a flexible hose, I was thinking of that before, just didn't see one on the site.

How often do you guys lube the different points anyway?
I got my oil changed at Sears last oil change because I didn't feel like doing it myself and they didn't cost to much more than I could have done it for, I notice the oil change description on their website says it includes "chassis lube".. wonder if they get all the points?

-Bryan

 

About every 6 months if I don't drive through water. Immediately after driving through water. Also at each oil change. Don't forget to slap some grease on the steering stops to make them quiet.

 

heh, I haven't greased mine for 1-2 years, I need to do that soon. There are two types of grease guns, the little ones and the big ones. Get the big one because I had a heck of a time trying to find regular moly lube for the little ones at kragen's. I'm not sure how many ounces the big ones or little ones are, so just go down to the shop and look at them. All the little ones seemed to be lithium based, so maybe that's the convention, little ones=lithium, big ones= moly?

I'd recommend the flexible tube too.

Steve

 

Flex hose is nice.. But no matter what, buy the style that has 2 handles (so you can do it with one hand...)

 

grease guns use the same fittings so you can buy a flexible hose for it. That is exactly the type of handle I was talking about. Mine doesn't have it and what a PITA it can be sometimes.

 

Grease gun with that type of handle is called a pistol grip (just to help you search). I just got one with a grip like that and a flex-hose. It was quite easy to use.
If my rear drive shaft is not greased every 3.5k, it starts to wind up at every stop. So, basically it needs to be done at every oil change.
As for how much grease to put in, for most zerks, you'll see grease come out of several places as you pump the gun. I'd say two pumps is plenty, There are some fittings though that should get the grease right to the splines. On those, you won't see grease come out anywhere. You can probably give those 5-6 pumps. This is just my opinion, so I'd wait for others to confirm

 

Alright cool, thanks for the info.

 

Since I service all kinds of stuff, I use the pistol grip type and bought a 3' long flex hose. That way I don't have to try to jamb everything up into wheel wells, suspensions, anchor pins, etc. I also use synthetic grease cause it lasts longer and repels water better.